Council's planning scheme gives the Ascot Residential Area a design objective "To provide for residential development that retains native vegetation." Bendigo Tree Removal cuts down, lops and clears trees on Ascot blocks, from Taylor Street and Ironstone Road out to the Bendigo Regional Park boundary, and we ask about overlays and permits before the saw starts, though council has the final word.
Ascot is almost entirely detached housing. On the 2021 Census, 98.6% of occupied homes were separate houses, averaging 3.6 bedrooms, 47% were being paid off with a mortgage and only about one in six was rented.
Big lots and kept bush: Ascot's design overlay
By our calculation, about 90 hectares of Ascot is in Schedule 7 to the Design and Development Overlay, the Ascot Residential Area. Alongside keeping native vegetation, its objectives aim "To retain the low density residential nature of the area with lot sizes greater than traditional urban standards", and it states: "Subdivision must have a minimum subdivision area of 1500 square metres."
The overlay has no tree-removal permit trigger of its own. It tells you how the area is meant to look; the permit question for a native tree still comes from the state's native vegetation rules and any other overlay on the block.
Block size matters for those state rules. They exempt native vegetation on land, together with any adjoining land in the same ownership, of less than 0.4 hectares. In the Low Density Residential Zone, a lot must be at least "0.4 hectare for each lot where reticulated sewerage is not connected", so on unsewered Ascot lots that exemption usually won't help. Confirm the actual area of your land before relying on it.
Two Ascot heritage places have tree controls: the Moreton Bay fig at the Potters' Arms on Taylor Street, and the palms at the Palms building on Myrtle Road. The Bendigo Racecourse listing has none.
Ascot's bush edge and the bushfire overlay
About 484 hectares of Bendigo Regional Park lies inside Ascot, by our calculation, and the Public Conservation and Resource Zone covers just over half the suburb. About 86% of Ascot is a designated bushfire prone area, and the Bushfire Management Overlay reaches about 43% of its residential land.
On a large block the Clause 52.12 exemptions run out sooner than people expect. Trees can come out within 10 metres of a house in the bushfire prone area, provided it was built, or approved by permit, before 10 September 2009. Further out, to 30 metres, or 50 metres inside the overlay, the exemptions cover grass, shrubs and other vegetation but not trees. A gum 20 metres from an Ascot house still needs the permit question answered. Along an eligible boundary fence, up to 4 metres combined can also be cleared.
Where a planted windbreak gum has to come out, we take it down in sections if there's a house, shed or fence within reach, then cut the trunk into rounds you can keep for firewood or have taken away. The stump can be ground out too.
Back Creek, Racecourse Creek and flooding
The VICSES local flood guide for the area says "Epsom, Huntly and Ascot have a well recorded history of floods since 1850", and lists Ironstone Road, Golf Course Road and Strickland Street among Ascot roads likely to flood. By our calculation, about 21% of Ascot's residential land is in the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay.
In reported news, the Bendigo Advertiser (16 April 2024) said council inspected more than 400 properties after the December 2023 and January 2024 floods, and 113 houses had flooded over the floor across several areas, including Epsom, Huntly and Ascot. Back Creek and Racecourse Creek were among the waterways named.
Creek-side land can also carry a waterway protection overlay with its own permit rules, and about 55 hectares of Ascot does, by our calculation. If the tree is near a creek, check your planning property report first.
What we do in Ascot
- Tree removal: whole trees taken down in sections, with the stump ground and the site cleaned up.
- Tree lopping and pruning: branches cut back off roofs, gutters and fences, to a proper branch point.
- Stump grinding: stumps ground below the surface so the spot can be levelled or replanted.
- Storm damage and fallen trees: trees and limbs down across a roof, fence or driveway.
Before a tree comes down in Ascot
Whether a tree needs a permit depends on the property, not just the suburb: the overlays on your block, the native vegetation rules and whether it's a council tree. Check your planning property report on VicPlan, or ask the City of Greater Bendigo. Our guide to tree removal permits in Bendigo sets out each rule.
Nearby suburbs
Common questions
Does Ascot's design overlay mean I need a permit to remove a tree?
Not by itself. DDO7 aims to keep native vegetation and large lots, but it has no tree-removal trigger of its own. The permit question comes from the state's native vegetation rules and any other overlay on your block, so check your VicPlan planning property report or ask the City of Greater Bendigo.
My Ascot block is large. Does the small-lot exemption apply?
Probably not. The state's native vegetation exemption covers only land, with any adjoining land you own, of less than 0.4 hectares. Unsewered lots in the Low Density Residential Zone must be at least 0.4 hectares, so many large Ascot blocks won't qualify. Confirm your lot area first.
How far from my Ascot house can I clear trees for fire safety?
Only trees within 10 metres of the house qualify, and only where the house is in the bushfire prone area and dates from before 10 September 2009, whether built or approved by permit. Past 10 metres, the Clause 52.12 exemptions reach other vegetation, not trees, except along an eligible boundary fence (up to 4 metres combined). Look up your address on VicPlan before you start.
Which Ascot trees are heritage-listed?
Two places in the heritage schedule have tree controls: the Moreton Bay fig at the Potters' Arms on Taylor Street and the palms at the Palms building on Myrtle Road. Removing or lopping a listed tree needs a planning permit, with narrow exceptions.
Where this information comes from
The local details on this page come from these published pages, checked on 29 September 2026.
- Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme: Schedule 7 to the Design and Development Overlay (Ascot Residential Area) · Planning scheme
- Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme: Clause 32.03 Low Density Residential Zone · Planning scheme, minimum lot sizes
- Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme: Clause 52.17 Native vegetation · Planning scheme, table of exemptions
- Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme: Schedule to the Heritage Overlay · Planning scheme, tree controls by heritage place
- Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme: Clause 52.12 Bushfire protection exemptions · Planning scheme
- Greater Bendigo Planning Scheme: Schedule 1 to the Environmental Significance Overlay · Planning scheme, waterway protection
- VICSES: Epsom, Huntly and Ascot Local Flood Guide · Emergency service flood guide, content reviewed December 2025
- Bendigo Advertiser: council flood plans · News, 16 April 2024
- Vicmap open data: planning overlays and zones, bushfire prone area, parks and reserves · Victorian Government map data, used for our area calculations
- ABS: 2021 Census QuickStats, Ascot (Greater Bendigo) · Housing and household figures
