Request for arborist (tree) services

Council prunes trees on council land to remove:

• lower branches and provide clearance over footpaths for pedestrian and traffic visibility
• dead or damaged limbs
• suckers that sprout from the base of the trunk
• structural faults.

Young trees often require pruning so that they develop good form.

Trees overhanging private property from council land

If a tree is overhanging private property from council land such as a park or nature strip, you are allowed to prune overhanging branches (back to the boundary only) under the following circumstances:

• providing the limbs are overhanging the boundary by more than 0.5m (500mm) and within a distance of 2.5m measured from the ground.

If you decide to do the pruning yourself, then you will be responsible for removing the green waste. Overhang outside of these distances will need to be assessed by a council arborist.

For information on resolving neighbourhood disputes about trees on private property, visit the Queensland Government website.

Council may prune trees to:

• enhance the health and structure of a specimen or to reduce risk
• meet specified road, footpath and overhead service clearance requirements
• meet traffic visibility requirements.

Council may also prune newly planted or young trees to ensure they avoid future conflict with infrastructure (i.e. powerlines).

Council may not prune trees to:

• satisfy personal preference
• minimise leaf, twig and fruit drop
• reduce the overall size of the tree
• improve the visual appearance and / or shape of a tree
• create or re-create views
• minimise limbs or overhanging private property unless deemed hazardous.

Trees may only be removed when they:

• are dead or in irreversible decline
• are an accepted traffic hazard that can't be corrected by pruning (based on advice from the relevant council department and/or Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR) guidelines regarding traffic hazards and sight lines
• interfere with above or below-ground essential services such as powerlines or water pipes (where the infrastructure cannot be modified and the problem is likely to require repeated action leading to the irreversible decline of the tree).

Submit a request to council

Supplying high quality images showing details of the issue will help reduce the time it takes to determine a resolution. View the following examples of images before submitting a request to council.

To request the services of an arborist to review an issue with a tree that is on council land and encroaching on your property, complete the arborist request online form or please contact council. Investigations may take up to 20 weeks.

Please note:

• Powerlines: tree pruning within 1.3m of a powerline or utility line must be performed by Energex. Please contact Energex on 13 12 53 or complete their online form.
• Main roads: we will not investigate trees on main or arterial roads (i.e. Bruce Highway or Sunshine Motorway). Please contact DTMR on 13 19 40 or complete their online form.
• Private property: please contact a private arborist to discuss your tree concerns. Council cannot give advice or inspect trees on private property that are not impacting on council land.