Koala Arbor

David Shrimpton founded Koala Arbor Consulting Arborists in 2016 and still owns and runs it. He is an AQF Level 5 arborist, with horticultural and climbing arborist qualifications sitting behind the consulting work, and he is certified in all three of the internationally recognised tree risk methodologies: TRAQ, Advanced QTRA and VALID. He is a member of Arboriculture Australia and an accredited member of the Institute of Australian Consulting Arborists. What we do is reports, inspections and the diagnosis of tree problems, with recommendations for better tree health and care.

Before you exchange on a place with a big tree in the yard, it is worth knowing what you are actually buying. Our pre property-purchase reports help prospective buyers understand the constraints and the opportunities of a site, so the tree is a known quantity at the point you sign for it. That work, like everything else on our list, runs across all areas of the Sydney region.

For a Development Application with trees on the site, the report most commonly required is an Arboricultural Impact Assessment, and it needs to be in hand before the application goes to council. Once consent is granted and construction begins around retained trees, we attend for the on-site certification and letters confirming that the supervision and certification conditions have been met.

A local government authority generally wants a health and condition report in front of it when tree removal or retention is being considered. Those take in what is wrong with the tree, what is causing it, and what we would recommend doing about it. Where actual or likely property damage is the question, or an engineering design has to work around a root system, what a council or an engineer will be asking for is a tree root mapping report.

We also specialise in native and exotic tree planting and care, choosing species suited to your site's soil, aspect and microclimate so that a new tree establishes properly and keeps going. Then there are the orchid walls. We have a particular love of native epiphytic orchids and ferns, and several systems built entirely from recycled materials that let those plants grow in vertical spaces where ground room is short, or where light runs anywhere from partial through to heavy shade. Ring David on 0418 117 313 or send an email with the address and whatever the council, the certifier or the contract has asked for, and we will tell you which report covers it and what a site assessment would involve.