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Arborists in the Sutherland Shire, NSW

Find a Trusted Arborist
in the Sutherland Shire

The Shire got lucky with its trees and has spent fifty years arguing about them. Angophoras lean over Como rooflines, blackbutts and Sydney red gums hold the ridges from Menai down through Engadine, and the Royal National Park presses against the back fences at Bundeena and Waterfall. Most of it grew there before the street did. That is the thing to grasp before you ring anyone: on a Shire block the tree is usually older than the house, and Council knows it.

One council covers the lot, which makes life simpler here than almost anywhere else in Sydney. There is no boundary to work out and no second set of rules at the end of the street. Sutherland Shire Council protects any tree with a trunk of 100mm or more, measured 500mm above ground level, so the permit question comes up on jobs most people assume are routine. A listed species table, storm-broken limbs and pruning that takes no more than a tenth of the canopy are the everyday ways around it, along with the RFS 10/50 clearing code. The arborists listed below work Cronulla to Bundeena and know what Council will and will not sign off.

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Pricing

What tree work costs in the Sutherland Shire

Small tree removal
$400-$950
up to about 5m
Large tree removal
$2,600-$8,500
mature gum, 12m+
Pruning & crown thinning
$350-$1,700
per tree, AS 4373
Stump grinding
$150-$550
per stump
Arborist report
$400-$900
incl. TRAQ

Incl. GST. Two things move these numbers more than the tree does: whether a chipper can get within dragging distance, and whether the timber has to travel over the house instead of around it. Council's fee sits on top and is worth a look before you lodge anything, because on the 2026/27 schedule an application without a TRAQ report costs $213 while one lodged with a TRAQ report costs $45.50, and pensioners pay $90 or $19 respectively. Council re-sets those fees every 1 July, so check the schedule rather than the number quoted here.

Services

What Shire arborists are hired for

Tree removal, small blocks to full canopy gums
Stump grinding & stump removal
Tree pruning to AS 4373-2007
Crown thinning & crown reduction
Tree lopping & height reduction
Deadwooding mature eucalypts
Arborist reports & TRAQ assessments
Tree permit applications & Council liaison
Storm damage & emergency tree work
Palm removal & frond cleaning
Hedge & shrub trimming
Tree protection & TPZ fencing to AS 4970
Mulching & green-waste removal
Bushfire fuel reduction & block clearing
Advice

How to choose an arborist in the Sutherland Shire

Measure the trunk before you believe anyone

The number that decides your job is a trunk of 100mm or more, taken 500mm off the ground. Hit it and Council decides, not you and not the bloke with the chainsaw. The same clause catches bushland vegetation of any size and anything growing within 4 metres of a creek, which on a Woronora or Georges River block settles the question before the tape measure comes out.

The TRAQ report pays for itself twice

Lodge without one and the application fee is $213; lodge with a Tree Risk Assessment Qualification report and it drops to $45.50. The catch is that the assessor must be a TRAQ-licensed consultant at AQF Level 4 or higher with no affiliation to a tree contracting company, which is exactly why the report carries weight.

Two trees back for every one out

An approval arrives with conditions attached, and replanting is the usual one: two indigenous trees on site per tree removed, or four on public land under a Deed of Agreement. That is the rate for a straight permit; where a development, dual occupancy or subdivision is driving the removal it climbs to 4:1 or 8:1. The owner keeps them alive, long after the chipper has gone.

Even a genuine emergency leaves a paper trail

A tree that is an imminent risk to life or property can come down without a permit, but only if it is documented as it happens: an insured arborist at AQF Level 4 or above, photographs in context and close up, and the SEPP exempt imminent risk form completed and kept for two years. Skip the file and it is vandalism, whatever the tree was doing.

Council will tell you who not to hire

Council's own guidance is blunt about door knockers offering cheap cash work, and it flags something most people never check: gardening insurance carries a height limit, and most home insurance does not cover tree work at all. Ask for public liability and workers compensation, an AQF Level 3 minimum, and an ABN on the quote.

Building? The fence goes up before the slab

If a development or complying development is running on your block, protective fencing to AS 4970 has to be standing before site works start and stay until they finish. It covers nearby public trees too. Builders forget this one constantly, and a root zone driven over is a tree you will be paying to remove in three years.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do I need council approval to remove a tree in the Sutherland Shire? +
Nearly always. Sutherland Shire Council protects any tree with a trunk of 100mm or more measured 500mm above ground level, which catches a lot more than the big gums out the back. The controls sit in Chapter 39 of the Sutherland Shire Development Control Plan 2015, made under the NSW Biodiversity and Conservation SEPP of 2021. Clauses 4.3 and 4.4 carry the exemptions, and they are narrower than most people assume: a listed species table, storm-broken limbs, branches cut back to the collar to clear a roofline where the tree owner agrees, and pruning that takes no more than 10% of the canopy in any 12 months. The RFS 10/50 code or a hazard reduction certificate can also let you clear without a permit. One application covers the removal of up to three trees. Cutting a protected tree without approval is treated as tree vandalism, and Council warns that illegal tree works can bring fines and enforcement in the Local Court or the NSW Land and Environment Court.
How much does tree removal cost in the Sutherland Shire? +
Anything under about 5m sits between $400 and $950. A mature angophora or blackbutt that has to leave in pieces over a roof is $2,600 to $8,500. Pruning and crown thinning run $350 to $1,700, stump grinding $150 to $550, and an arborist report $400 to $900. The Shire sits mid table for Sydney. A standard block with a driveway and room to drop timber is quicker to work than an Eastern Suburbs terrace, but the bushland fringe at Bundeena, Engadine and Woronora lifts the top end when a crane or a 40m carry is the only way the tree is leaving. Figures include GST.
How long does a Sutherland Shire tree permit take? +
Applications are normally determined within 28 business days of a completed form and payment, and one of Council's own arborists inspects the tree before deciding. Entry to inspect is usually carried out without prior notification, so no one will ring first, and the form has you consent to that entry when you sign it. Permits are valid for two years, which is long enough to lodge in spring and still have the work done the following winter. Nothing can be cut until the determination lands, and your arborist will want a copy of it before starting.
A tree fell on my house in a storm. Who removes it? +
Call the SES on 132 500 first. They make the site safe and tarp the roof, whoever owned the tree. Then call your insurer, who sends an assessor and arranges the repairs, tree removal included, and chases a third party for costs where that applies. If the tree came off Council land, report it, but understand the limit: Council clears its tree up to your property boundary and no further, because it cannot carry out works on private land. Everything on your side of the fence is between you, your insurer and a private arborist.
Do I have to plant a new tree if I remove one? +
Usually, and it is a real cost worth knowing before you commit. A tree determination comes with conditions, and Chapter 39 sets replacement at two indigenous trees on site for every tree removed, with Council nominating the species. Where the yard genuinely cannot take them, Council will plant four on public land instead under a Deed of Agreement and charge you per tree. On the 2026/27 schedule that offset fee is $595 for a 300mm tree and $1,066 for a 45 litre one, covering supply, planting and maintenance to Council specification. Council's Native Plant Selector will tell you what suits your soil, and the community nursery at 345 The Boulevarde, Gymea can supply the stock. Replanting is the tree owner's condition to satisfy, not the arborist's, and Chapter 39 holds you to it until the new trees hit 100mm themselves.
Council refused my tree permit. What are my options? +
Three, and a refusal letter is not the end of it. You can commission an AQF Level 5 consulting arborist to write a report including a TRAQ risk assessment and put the tree back in front of Council on evidence. You can take it to the NSW Land and Environment Court, using provisions in that same Biodiversity and Conservation SEPP. Or you can ask Council for a review, which is open only for removals within six months of the refusal and starts with a written request. Whichever you pick, the consulting arborist has to be independent of whoever would do the cutting.
Local Arborists

Arborists in the Sutherland Shire

Search arborist near me from a Shire address and you will get half of Sydney back. These crews are based here or work here weekly. Open a listing for contact details, services and hours. Get tree removal quotes in writing from at least two of them, and check the permit is sorted before anyone starts cutting.

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Service Areas

Popular service areas

Cronulla Miranda Sutherland Caringbah Engadine Gymea Menai Sylvania Kirrawee Jannali Woolooware Bundeena

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