Proarb WA

Russell Hawkins started studying arboriculture in Devon at sixteen, came to Perth in 2016 and worked up from groundsman to climber to managing a medium sized tree company. Chris Jones began his career in the forests of North Wales, moved out in 2015 and spent almost six years as the lead arborist for another Perth company. They had already managed a business together when they worked out they wanted the same thing, and Proarb WA was established in 2021. Between them they hold more than 30 years in arboriculture.

The qualifications behind that are worth listing because they decide what we are allowed to take on. Russell holds a Cert Arb from the Royal Forestry Society, a BTEC National Certificate in Forestry and Arboriculture, an ABC Certificate in Arboriculture, an NPTC National Certificate in Horticulture and LANTRA Risk Assessment for Commercial Arboriculture, and he is QTRA certified. Chris came up the NPTC City and Guilds route in utility arboriculture, aerial rigging, aerial rescue, chainsaw operations and the felling and processing of trees over 380mm, and he is trained on the Cobra bracing system. Anthony Biluba is our lead arborist and team leader with over seven years in the industry and an Australian Certificate III in Arboriculture, and he trains the apprentices and ground staff; Lucas Burt came off his apprenticeship as a certified arborist; and Danielle Anderson runs the office, the payroll, the compliance and the bookings. We are fully insured and Western Power certified.

A tree across the driveway at two in the morning is a job we will take. Our emergency service runs 24 hours a day for storm damaged and fallen trees, for a footplate that has started lifting or moving, for trees that have been hit by a vehicle or come down onto one, and for anything blocking access for the emergency services. Call out charges apply where a consultant or a crew is mobilised at your request, and you will hear that from us before we roll, not on the invoice afterwards.

The rest is the climbing and the cutting: taking a tree down in sections, bringing a canopy back in, getting the weight off a limb that has grown out over the roof. Hedging keeps a boundary where it belongs and stump grinding clears out what is left behind. Being Western Power certified is what lets us do power line clearance around live infrastructure. There is root management for roots that have found a drain or a footing, pest and disease management, and tree planting for when the answer is a replacement rather than a removal.

Russell handles our consultancy work as a QTRA licensed consultant, covering Quantified Tree Risk Assessment, safety inspections, tree inventories, arboricultural reports, tree impact assessments and pest and disease diagnoses. Owning a tree carries a duty of care, and that is the paperwork councils, strata committees and developers want standing behind a decision. We work across Perth and the surrounds, from the coast to the hills, for domestic and commercial clients along with local councils and government properties, and we sell mulch and logs off the jobs we take out. Ring 08 6559 5671 and ask for Russell if it is a report you need, or the office for anything else, and the quote is free.