Melbourne Arboricultural Services (MAS)

From 2001 to 2009 Richard Warren-Smith was Tree Care Coordinator at Banyule City Council, and before that the investigations arborist at Bayside City Council. He has now led the team at Melbourne Arboricultural Services for twelve years, with more than 26 years in horticulture and arboriculture and 25 of them in arboricultural business. The qualifications behind that are an Associate Diploma in Arboriculture from VCAH Burnley and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Horticulture, both through the University of Melbourne. We work out of Brunswick, and across greater Melbourne from there: Richmond, Armadale, Templestowe, Eltham, Epping, Sunbury, Wallan, Glen Waverley, Ferntree Gully, Croydon, Ringwood, Montrose, Emerald, Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula.

Knowing what a council actually wants to see is the difference between a report that does its job and one that comes back. We prepare arborist reports and tree reports, council planning application reports, and the documentation behind tree pruning and removal permits. Risk and health assessments set out a tree's condition and the hazards attached to it, property pre purchase tree inspections tell a buyer what is coming with the title, and root management and damage claim reports deal with the arguments over roots, pipes and subsidence. On a bigger site, tree surveying and inventories put every tree on the record before a single decision gets made.

Past the one off report, we write tree management plans for a single tree or a whole stand, and tree protection for keeping established trees alive through a build. Ongoing tree health assessments and tree inspections pick up decline, disease or structural trouble while it is still cheap to deal with. When work does have to happen on the tree itself, we handle tree removal, tree and root removal, tree cutting and tree trimming, and the offcuts go through tree mulching so the material stays on the property.

We are a CGU WorkCover registered employer and carry QBE liability insurance cover of $10,000,000, which is the figure a council or a builder will ask for before anyone sets foot on their site. If you need a tree documented, whether that is for a permit, a purchase or a dispute, what you will get is an assessment and a report you can put straight in front of whoever is asking for it. Ring 0413 393 720 and tell us what the decision hangs on.