Tree Removal
in Hurstville
In Hurstville the first question is not how big the tree is but whether it counts as a tree at all, and Georges River Council answers that lower down the trunk than most. Council's tree policy defines a tree as vegetation three metres or more in height, or 100 millimetres or more in diameter measured at ground level, or with a branch spread of three metres or more. Taking that measurement at ground level rather than at breast height pulls in multi stemmed and low branching trees that a diameter read higher up would let through. Anything meeting any one of the three tests is protected, and council states you need a permit under State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021 to remove or prune any tree on private land that is protected under its Tree Management Policy. The state instrument works by letting each council declare in its own development control plan which vegetation needs a permit, by species, size or location, which is why the answer here is a Georges River answer rather than a Sydney one.
The exemptions here are written as species names rather than as a size. Council's exempt species table covers cocos palm, privet, oleander, coral tree, umbrella tree, rubber tree, running bamboo, rhus and wild olive, and it puts a height condition on four entries: camphor laurel, Canary Island date palm, Chinese hackberry and silky oak are exempt only below six metres. Fruit and fodder trees come off the list too, except the native ones, with macadamia, lilly pilly and blueberry ash written back in, and priority weeds listed under the Biosecurity Act 2015 can go without approval. Everything else on a Hurstville block is protected, which in practice means the eucalypts and the big canopy trees. Council's street tree plan allocates species street by street, and turpentine, grey gum, brush box, scribbly gum, dwarf apple, water gum, tuckeroo and tulipwood all appear against streets in Hurstville, South Hurstville and Hurstville Grove. The remnant bushland across this council area includes Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest, whose canopy is turpentine, grey ironbark and grey gum and which is listed as a critically endangered ecological community.
The wires are the other thing that shapes tree work here. Council looks after more than 35,000 street trees and allocates two species to every street, a taller one and a shorter one for narrow nature strips and for positions under powerlines, and it says outright that many of its street trees have been pruned into disfigured and at times structurally defective shapes to hold clearance from overhead electric wires. It also reports that a high percentage of the canopy has five to fifteen years of useful life left, which is why so many quotes in this part of the St George area are for removal and replacement rather than one more reduction. The listings below cover Hurstville and the suburbs around it. Look at what qualifications each crew holds, then get more than one price on the same tree and the same access.
What tree removal costs in Hurstville
Every figure above is indicative, includes GST and is a guide only, drawn from national ranges rather than from quotes collected in Hurstville. What moves the number locally is access rather than the tree. A detached block with a driveway down the side is the straightforward case; the awkward ones are trees hemmed in behind townhouse and unit developments where the only way out is a shared driveway or a lift over the roof, and trees standing close to the overhead lines. That last one changes who can quote at all rather than how long the job takes: the SafeWork code keeps anyone untrained three metres clear of a line, so the work needs a crew carrying the electrical competency and a safety observer with them, which is a smaller pool of contractors than the job would otherwise draw. Council's own charges sit on top of the arborist's and are structured by how many trees you ask it to inspect, with separate stage one and stage two review fees if you want a decision looked at again. Read the amounts off council's fees and charges schedule on the day you apply, because they are reset each 1 July.
Hurstville tree removal, stump grinding and arborist reports
How to choose a qualified arborist in Hurstville
Measure at the ground, not at the chest
Take the measurement before you ring anyone, and take it low. Council counts a tree as anything three metres or taller, 100 millimetres or more across at ground level, or three metres or more in branch spread, and meeting any one of the three is enough on its own. A clumping shrub nobody would call a tree can clear the branch spread test without ever having a real trunk. If a contractor waves your tree through because it is thin at chest height, they are measuring in the wrong place.
The exempt list has a six metre catch
Four species on the list stop being exempt once they get tall. Camphor laurel, Canary Island date palm, Chinese hackberry and silky oak are exempt only below six metres, while cocos palm, privet, oleander, coral tree, umbrella tree, rhus, running bamboo and wild olive carry no height limit at all. It is the detail that decides whether a job is a phone call or an application, so read the table rather than taking the species name as the whole answer.
Council publishes the reasons it will refuse
Georges River is unusually direct about this, which saves a wasted application. Council will not approve removal or pruning to improve a view, to reduce leaf, flower, fruit or bark drop, to reduce litter from birds and possums living in the tree, to deal with minor damage to driveways and paths, or to clear roots from a sewer or drainage line where the pipe itself is earthenware, in poor condition or in disrepair. Where the pipe is the real fault, the fix is a plumbing one. Our guide to tree roots, pipes and root barriers covers what actually works.
A dangerous tree runs on a seventy two hour clock
There is a real exemption for a tree that has become an imminent danger, and it has a strict shape. The tree must be assessed by an arborist holding a minimum AQF 5 in arboriculture, and the exempt tree works form has to be lodged within 72 hours of the removal, with photographs of the tree's condition, a statement of the risk and a statement from that arborist that the works were the minimum necessary. Miss the form and council treats the removal as tree vandalism, and the exemption does not apply at all where a tree is suspected of having been vandalised. Council requires landowners doing exempt works to keep evidence of the tree's condition for at least two years, so photograph it properly before the saw comes out.
A permit and a development application are different doors
Choosing the wrong one costs weeks. A tree permit covers pruning or removal on private land, trees on the Significant Tree Register, trees inside a heritage conservation area, and pruning only inside a listed heritage item or interim heritage order. Removal of a tree in a heritage item, any work on a site holding a threatened ecological community, and any tree work that accompanies development on the property cannot go through a permit at all and need a development application. Council's Significant Tree Register held 257 trees at 16 sites when it was adopted in December 2023, so it is worth checking whether yours is one of them before anything else.
Two qualifications, and a third one for the wires
The word arborist covers two different tickets. Climbing, dismantling and rigging sit at AQF Level 3, which is the ticket to look for on the person actually in the tree; AQF Level 5 is the level council names for a dangerous tree statement and for verifying replacement planting. Near overhead lines neither of them is the qualification that counts: the electrical code lets a trained person work closer than three metres from a line, naming UET20321 Certificate II ESI Powerline Vegetation Control or a qualification equivalent to it, and it wants a safety observer standing with them while they do it. Ask for the certificate of currency itself, in date, and check it names the business writing your quote. No business can hold Arboriculture Australia registration without $5 million of public liability behind it, and that is a minimum rather than a market rate.
Frequently asked questions
Arborists in Hurstville
Arborists and tree services listed here work across Hurstville and the neighbouring St George suburbs. Each entry shows a phone number, the jobs that business handles and its trading hours. Get a price from more than one of them on the same tree, with the same access, before you sign anything.
Loading local arborists…
Where else we cover, and what to read next
Regulatory details on this page were verified as at . Council rules, fees and penalty values change; confirm with your council before acting. See our disclaimer.