Woodland Tree Reports

Over a decade inside local government sits behind every report that leaves this desk. Jason Eales owns and runs Woodland Tree Reports out of Geelong and works Victoria wide, holds a Diploma in Arboriculture at AQF Level 5, and carries $20,000,000 in public liability and professional indemnity cover.

The worth of a report is whether the body reading it accepts it. Those years on the other side of the counter taught us what a council looks for, what it queries, and what it sends back asking for more, and that knowledge goes into how every report here gets written. One client told us the detail in his report prevented delays and let the project run on. The process itself is four steps: you make an enquiry by phone or through the site, we send back a proposal setting out the scope, we come out and do the site assessment on the ground, and you get the report with findings and recommendations you can act on.

Which report you need depends on what you are up against. For a build, an impact assessment report works through what the proposal will do to the trees on and around the site, a root investigation report deals with what is going on below ground where roots meet footings, pipes or paving, and a survey report maps where every tree sits so a designer can plan around them from the start. For a tree you intend to keep, a health assessment report sets out the condition it is genuinely in and the maintenance that will hold it there, and a risk assessment report names the hazards attached to it before they turn into an incident. For land you are managing instead of building on, a management report sets the strategy across an urban or rural tree population and a planting report covers species selection and placement. Nursery stock assessment reports check that landscape trees meet AS 2303:2018 in condition and in number before anybody signs for them on site.

The work goes out to private owners of residential, rural and agricultural land; to private schools, planning consultants, architects, landscape designers and construction companies; to local government, educational institutions and state agencies; and to management committees, body corporate entities, conservation groups, homeowner associations and agricultural cooperatives. Whichever of those you are, the report is handled against your deadline, whether that is a planning timeframe or a council request with a date printed on it. Ring or send an enquiry through the site with what has been asked of you and when it is due, and we will come back to you with a proposal.