The City of Perth is seeking feedback on its draft Tree Retention on Private Property in Crawley-Nedlands Local Planning Policy (draft policy).

The draft policy applies to all zoned land in the Crawley-Nedlands neighbourhood. It outlines the circumstances in which tree removal or other tree damaging activity requires a development application, and how these applications will be assessed.

Background

The preservation of mature trees is an increasingly important issue in urban planning across Western Australia. Recent years have seen a marked decline in tree canopy across metropolitan Perth. The Crawley-Nedlands neighbourhood has the highest concentration of trees on private property in the city when compared with other neighbourhoods.

Protecting the urban tree canopy provides a range of environmental and community benefits, including:

• Mitigating the urban heat island effect;
• Mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change;
• Enhancing and supporting biodiversity; and
• Maintaining Crawley-Nedlands ‘leafy green’ character.

Detailed background information is provided in the Documents and FAQ's.

Item 11.1 of the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting provides the Administration report and Council decision.

Draft Local Planning Policy – Tree Retention

The objectives of the policy are to:

• Retain trees that contribute to an attractive streetscape, improve local amenity, enhance urban greening and provide natural shade and shelter.
• Protect trees that contribute significantly to the landscape character of the Crawley-Nedlands neighbourhood as outlined in the City’s Local Planning Strategy and Local Planning Scheme.
• Support the retention of trees whilst achieving development outcomes consistent with the City’s Local Planning Strategy and Local Planning Scheme.

Key components of the policy are:

Defining a Regulated Tree as a tree not listed on the State or local weed register and that meets one of the following criteria:	Has a minimum height of 8 metres Has a minimum canopy diameter of 6 metres Has a minimum trunk circumference of 1.5 metres, measured 1.4 m above the ground, or in the case of a tree with multiple trunks, the total cumulative trunk circumference is at least 1.5 m, with the average trunk circumference being at least 625 mm, measured 1.4 above the ground
Exempting the requirement for a development application where:	A tree is not a regulated tree; or Pruning of a regulated tree meets the definition of maintenance pruning, which includes the removal of dead branches, and branches close to and/or overhanging buildings; and/or Where the removal or pruning a regulated tree is undertaken by a suitably qualified arborist, and is in accordance with recommendations of a tree condition assessment; and/or; Urgent works for safety reasons.
Providing a place-based assessment framework to guide applications, that includes:	Stronger prioritisation of tree retention in the Residential Zone over the Neighbourhood Mixed Business Zone. Consideration of tree health and characteristics to determine whether the tree has ongoing viability. Consideration of existing buildings or site layout and whether this limits retention opportunity or ongoing tree viability. Allowing for tree removal where the development potential of a site cannot be reasonably achieved while retaining the tree. Extenuating circumstances for tree removal warranted based on genuine medical reasons.
Allowing for discretion to built form parameters (such as building height and minimum setbacks)	Discretion considered to facilitate tree retention and achieve development yield, where the discretion does not adversely affect the amenity, streetscape or desired character.

Additional information regarding how the policy will be implemented is provided in the FAQ's .

How can I have my say?

Complete the survey below by 1 June 2026.

Please note that submissions are not considered confidential. All submissions received, including submitter details, may be made available to the public when the policy is considered by Council.