Tree removal and lopping in Kennington

When council repaired the Kennington Reservoir dam wall, it cleared vegetation off the upstream face because tree roots create seepage paths into the wall. Bendigo Tree Removal takes down, prunes and grinds out trees across Kennington, and on a house block we ask the same question first: what are the roots doing to the wall, path or footings beside the tree?

Kennington had about 5,880 residents at the 2021 Census. About three in four homes were separate houses and about one in five was a semi-detached, row or terrace house or a townhouse. On those tighter blocks we take a tree down in sections and lower each piece on a rope, rather than dropping it across a fence.

Tree roots, walls and footings in Kennington

Council's page on the now-complete Kennington Reservoir Major Maintenance Project also notes that the old wall was found to contain mining sludge from puddling. Sources differ on the year the reservoir was built, so we don't give one here.

A house isn't a dam, but roots and structures still interact. CSIRO's homeowner guide to footings explains that growing roots push footings up, while soil dried out by roots can shrink away from under them, and that professional advice may be needed before removing a tree near a house.

So when a Kennington tree stands close to a wall, driveway or drain, we look at what removing it would change before we quote. Sometimes cutting it back is the better answer.

Kennington's heritage trees

The former St Aidan's Orphanage on St Aidans Road is on the Victorian Heritage Register (H2057). Its statement of significance describes a surviving front garden with seven Canary Island date palms, a Monterey cypress hedge, a golden cypress and a Mexican fan palm. The registration's permit exemptions cover tree management to AS 4373, the Australian Standard for pruning amenity trees. Removing one of those trees is a question for Heritage Victoria first.

Two other listed trees stand on private land, so we don't give their addresses:

• A heritage-listed palm. One Kennington property is in the Heritage Overlay with tree controls for its palm, which the property's 2015 heritage citation describes as the only remnant of a once-extensive garden. Removing or lopping it needs a planning permit. The same citation links the settlement of the "Grassy Flat district, now Kennington" to the opening of the reservoir.
• A National Trust-registered Algerian oak. The National Trust's Register of Significant Trees lists an Algerian oak (Quercus canariensis) of regional significance on a private Kennington property, about 17 metres tall and about 120 years old when measured in 2021. Trust registration isn't a planning control on its own.

Ironbark and grey box along Kennington streets

By our count from the City of Greater Bendigo's open tree dataset (November 2024), council manages 6,729 street and park trees in Kennington. Red ironbark (1,121) and grey box (930) lead the list, and more than half are recorded as Victorian species. Reservoir Road, which takes in the reservoir reserve, has the most.

Those trees are council's to look after, not the property owner's, so ask the City to inspect one that worries you. The list also includes 207 English elms, and council's urban tree management page says the City doesn't treat elms on private property for elm leaf beetle.

The bush edge on Kennington's east side

By our calculation from Vicmap data, about 32% of Kennington's land is a designated bushfire prone area, but only about one address in seven falls inside it, mostly on Edwards Road, Marnie Road and Greenwood Drive. Two blocks of Greater Bendigo National Park, about 16.5 and 3.7 hectares, sit behind Marnie Road, Greenwood Drive, Bambara Close and Vincent Drive.

The Flora Hill Bushland Reserve, despite its name, is in Kennington, off Edwards Road. Some homes on Edwards Road and Greenwood Drive are also in Schedule 1 of the Significant Landscape Overlay, where removing, destroying or lopping native vegetation needs a permit.

So the planning scheme's bushfire exemption for trees within 10 metres of a home doesn't reach most Kennington addresses: it covers only homes in that area built or approved before 10 September 2009. Check yours on VicPlan.

Wind, limbs and fences

In reported news, ABC News said on 29 October 2021 that, apart from two Golden Square jobs, all of Bendigo SES's call-outs in that wild weather were in Kennington, Strathdale and Flora Hill, mostly for trees down on roads, homes and fences. If a limb is down on your fence or roof, see storm damage and fallen trees, and report any branch on a powerline to Powercor.

What we do in Kennington

• 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 Kennington

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

• Tree removal in Strathdale
• Tree removal in Flora Hill
• Tree removal in Strathfieldsaye
• Tree removal in Bendigo

Common questions