Tree removal and lopping in Strathdale

Strathdale is mostly general residential streets, with box-ironbark bush only along its eastern edge. Bendigo Tree Removal removes, prunes and grinds out trees in Strathdale gardens, where the job is usually about working close to a house, a fence or the neighbours.

In the 2021 Census, just under half of Strathdale homes were owned outright and about a quarter were rented. Around one in eight is semi-detached, row or terrace housing, so yards tend to be tighter than on the bush blocks further east.

Strathdale's planning rules for trees

By our calculation from the Victorian Government's planning map data, Strathdale has no Vegetation Protection Overlay and no Significant Landscape Overlay, the two overlays that require a permit for native vegetation wherever they apply. The main tree-related overlay is a strip of Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO1) along drainage lines, covering about 4% of the suburb.

That doesn't make every tree free to remove. The state's native vegetation rules still apply, council looks after nature strip and street trees, and a block beside a drainage line may be in ESO1. The sensible first step is your property's VicPlan report. Our tree removal permits guide explains each rule.

Strathdale's best-known heritage place is Nanga Gnulle, a split-level timber and mudbrick house by Alistair Knox, built in 1970. Its Heritage Overlay listing has no tree controls, and its heritage statement says the landscaping isn't crucial to the house's significance.

Bushfire rules apply to only part of Strathdale

By our calculation, only about 55% of Strathdale is a designated bushfire prone area, and about 27% is in the Bushfire Management Overlay, mostly toward the eastern bush edge. That matters because the planning scheme's bushfire clearing exemptions, including removing trees within 10 metres of a home built or approved before 10 September 2009, apply only where the home is in a bushfire prone area.

So two Strathdale neighbours can have different rules. Check whether your address is in the bushfire prone area on VicPlan before relying on the exemption.

Working in tighter Strathdale yards

In suburban gardens, most of the work is in how a tree comes down rather than whether it can. A tree near a house, a shed or a shared fence is usually taken down in sections, with limbs lowered on ropes rather than dropped.

If the tree is on a shared boundary or overhangs next door, talk to your neighbour first. Victorian guidance says you can cut back branches that cross your boundary, at your cost, but the tree is still theirs. Unless you agree otherwise, the cut branches go back to your neighbour, and a permit may still be needed if the tree is protected.

What we do in Strathdale

• 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 Strathdale

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 Kennington
• Tree removal in Junortoun
• Tree removal in Strathfieldsaye
• Tree removal in Bendigo

Common questions