Tree removal and lopping in Maiden Gully

The Royal Commission into the 2009 bushfires records that the Bendigo fire "started shortly after 16:00 on 7 February 2009 in Maiden Gully". Bendigo Tree Removal clears, prunes and removes trees on Maiden Gully blocks, from the newer estates to the edge of Bendigo Regional Park, and we ask which rules cover a tree before anything is cut, with council having the final word.

In most precincts of the Maiden Gully design overlay (DDO10), council's rule is "All new lots must be at least 1500 square metres", and a steeper northern area has a 2,000 square metre minimum. In the 2021 Census, 98.9% of homes were separate houses, households averaged 3.1 people, and 55.3% of homes were owned with a mortgage.

What the 2009 fire means for Maiden Gully trees

The Commission found that, in total, the fire burnt 341 hectares, destroyed 58 houses and caused one death. By our calculation from DEECA fire history, about 143 hectares of the burnt area was in Maiden Gully. The Commission describes the fire "crowning in trees less than 20 metres from the area of its origin", and later crossing Maiden Gully Road near Albert Street "so intense it melted the asphalt".

Today, by our calculation, about 99% of Maiden Gully is a designated bushfire prone area and about 82% is in the Bushfire Management Overlay, including around half of its General Residential land. So the Clause 52.12 clearing exemptions matter to most households here.

They depend on where the house or fence is and how old it is, and they draw a firm line at trees:

• Within 10 metres of a home in the bushfire prone area that was built or approved before 10 September 2009, trees and any other vegetation can be removed or lopped without a planning permit.
• Within 30 metres, the same homes can clear everything except trees. In the Bushfire Management Overlay that stretches to 50 metres, again except trees, with its own date conditions.
• Along a boundary fence between different owners, in the bushfire prone area and built before 10 September 2009, clearing on both sides "when combined must not exceed 4 metres in width".
• Homes built after those dates generally don't get the exemptions, unless the home replaced one lost in the early-2009 fires. Ask council before removing a tree near a newer house.

Dealing with the branches after a clear-up

Clearing back from a house before fire season leaves a lot of timber. Burning it isn't an option: council says "Burning off your household or garden waste (organic, wet and green vegetation) in the open or using a backyard incinerator is banned, year round."

Domestic green waste goes to the Eaglehawk Landfill free of charge, up to a single 6 x 4 caged trailer or the equivalent, but loads with tree stumps or branches thicker than 200 mm are charged as waste. Tell us whether you want the timber left stacked or taken away, and we'll put that in the quote.

Native vegetation protection on farm and bush land

By our calculation, about 28% of Maiden Gully is under VPO2, the "Significant Vegetation" schedule of the Vegetation Protection Overlay, and about 9 square kilometres of that is private Farming Zone land. Removing, destroying or lopping native vegetation there needs a permit, unless it is in line with the "Native Vegetation Precinct Plan for land at 244 Edwards Road, Maiden Gully, June 2014". That carve-out covers only the 244 Edwards Road precinct.

Other overlays add to the picture. By our calculation, the groundwater recharge schedule of the Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO2) covers about 20% of the suburb and the waterway protection schedule (ESO1) about 7%, along Myers Creek and its gullies. The roadside remnant vegetation schedule (VPO3) protects native vegetation in some road reserves. If your block is in any of them, check with council before tree work starts.

A growing suburb with trees to keep

Council's Maiden Gully Precinct Structure Plan, adopted in September 2020, plans for about 4,150 dwellings at an overall density of 12 dwellings per hectare. It notes that "Larger lots will also provide greater opportunities to retain significant scattered trees", and requires that "Subdivision of land must provide for the planting of at least one street tree per lot."

By our calculation, Bendigo Regional Park takes up about 1,108 hectares of Maiden Gully, roughly 27% of it. Trees on the park side of a back fence are on public land, so raise any that worry you with Parks Victoria rather than cutting them.

What we do in Maiden Gully

• 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 Maiden Gully

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 Marong
• Tree removal in Golden Square
• Tree removal in Kangaroo Flat
• Tree removal in Eaglehawk
• Tree removal in Bendigo

Common questions