High Country Arborist Reports

High Country Arborist Reports is an arboricultural consultancy run by Ben Keys, an AQF Level 5 consulting arborist based in Bright, VIC. Rather than removals and pruning, the business deals in the assessment and expert judgement behind tree work: risk assessments, planning reports and advice on the health of trees across Victoria's High Country and surrounds.

Ben is a registered user of the Quantified Tree Risk Assessment (QTRA) system, the method councils and courts recognise for putting a defensible figure on the risk a tree poses. The consultancy carries full professional indemnity and public liability cover, which matters when a report is being relied on for a permit decision or a development approval.

The reports on offer include tree risk assessments and tree removal applications, the documentation a council needs before it will approve taking a protected tree down. Ben also prepares arborist reports for developers, carries out native vegetation assessments for planning and environmental compliance, and provides tree health assessments and consultations for owners deciding whether a tree can be kept or needs to go.

Clients range from homeowners sorting out a single tree through to developers and land managers who need vegetation signed off before a project can move ahead. Each job is scoped to what the client actually needs, from a short assessment to a full report ready to lodge with a council.

Working from Bright, the consultancy covers the High Country and north-east Victoria, including the Alpine Shire, Indigo Shire, the Rural City of Wangaratta, Mansfield, Greater Shepparton, Wellington Shire and East Gippsland, and extends across the border to Wodonga and Albury.