McArdle Arboricultural Consultancy

On a tree that looks suspect, we go up and look at it. A qualified arborist and climber takes a long arm inspection camera into the canopy and records video and stills of the structural defects that cannot be picked up from the lawn, and where decay has to be measured, resistograph testing puts a figure on it. That is the level of evidence McArdle Arboricultural Consultancy builds a report on, and it is why the recommendation at the end of one holds up when a council assessor reads it closely.

The McArdle name has been attached to tree work since 1956, and James McArdle began his arboriculture career in the family business. He is our Senior Consulting Arborist and Managing Director, holds a Bachelor Degree in Education and Science with further study in horticulture and arboriculture, and carries AQF Level 5 qualification status, which is the level councils ask for. He has been preparing arborist reports for residential and commercial clients for over 30 years, and before that he was employed by Hornsby Council as an Environmental Officer, so we know how a tree application reads from the other side of the counter. The consultancy works from two offices, Dural in Sydney's north west and Gosford on the Central Coast.

Most homeowners find us at the point where the council has asked for something in writing. Each council runs a Tree Preservation Order, and where a tree is covered by one, written consent is needed before any work is done on it; the application takes a form and a fee, and the council may then ask for an arborist report to accompany a removal or a development application. That is the report we write, using Visual Tree Assessment, the internationally used method built on tree biology, physiology and structure that reads the visible signs of ill health and hazard, with the assessment carried out in accordance with AS 4970 (2009) for the protection of trees on development sites and AS 4373 (2007) for the pruning of amenity trees. We give advice on significant trees, write hazard reports, and prepare pest and tree management plans. Homeowners at Normanhurst, Eastwood and Gladesville and a surveyor at Gosford have all written to us about theirs.

For architects, surveyors and developers, an AQF Level 5 arborist assesses the trees caught up in a DA proposal so that building envelopes and retained trees can co-exist and the site can still be developed as intended. Federal, state and local legislation all require the environmental questions to be formally considered before development starts, and an independent assessment is what answers them. That work runs from the preliminary tree plan and the arboricultural impact assessment and methods statement through to arborist site supervision and certification while construction is going on around the trees, and it takes in tree surveys, tree risk assessment and tree management reports, and school tree risk assessments. One town planner we act for credits our work with timely approved development applications.

What lands in your inbox at the end is a comprehensive arboricultural assessment report: the health and structural condition of the trees, the hazards, the useful life expectancy, and recommendations for remedial outcomes you can put in front of a council. We are members of the Tree Contractors Association of Australia and carry $20 million public liability and $5 million professional indemnity cover, which is the sort of thing that matters when a report is going to be relied on. Get in touch with the property address, a photograph of the tree and whatever the council has asked you for, and we will book the inspection.