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Half the calls we take at Dynamic Tree Solutions start the same way: “Am I allowed to take this tree down?” People have usually heard three different answers from three different neighbours, and at least one of them involved a permit that does not exist.
Here is the honest version. In Brisbane, most trees in most backyards are not protected, and a lot of the work people ring us about needs no council approval at all. There are five common situations where you can get on with it, and knowing which one you are in saves a fortnight of waiting for nothing.
This is a plain-English guide, not a legal ruling. Every block is different, and the wording below is our reading of the Brisbane rules as they stand. If your tree sits anywhere near the line, check with council or ask us — we do this every week.
Start with the Protected Vegetation map
Brisbane’s tree rules live in the Natural Assets Local Law, and the thing to understand straight up is that the law does not protect every tree in Brisbane. It protects vegetation that is shown on council’s Protected Vegetation map. If your lot is not on that map, the local law is not what stops you.
Checking takes about two minutes. Open the Brisbane City Council protected vegetation map, type in your address, and see whether a vegetation category is drawn over the lot. Take a screenshot with the address showing and keep it. If a question ever comes up later, that screenshot is the evidence of what the map said on the day you looked.
Not mapped does not mean no rules at all. Waterway corridors, easements and some overlays can still have a say, particularly on the creek flats around Oxley Creek. But it is the right first step, and it answers the question for most suburban blocks. We have written the longer version on our Brisbane City Council tree regulations page.
Case 1: Pruning up to 20% of live foliage in 12 months
You can prune up to 20% of a tree’s live foliage in any 12-month period without a permit, as long as it is done properly — to AS 4373, the Australian Standard for pruning amenity trees.
Twenty per cent is more than people expect. On a big Forest Lake gum that is a crown lift off the driveway, clearance back from the roof line and the gutters, and a general tidy through the canopy. It is a real day’s work, not a token trim.
What it is not is lopping. Cutting the top out of a tree and leaving stubs is not pruning, it is not covered by the 20% allowance, and the regrowth that comes back off those stubs is weakly attached and more likely to fail in a storm than what you cut off. If someone quotes you to “top” a tree, get a second opinion.
Dead wood is a separate matter. Dead limbs are not live foliage, so taking dead wood out does not eat into your 20%. That is worth knowing on the older gums around Inala and Oxley, where a good dead-wooding job makes a tree safe without touching the living canopy at all.
Case 2: Trunk within 3 m of the house
On lots of 4,000 m² or less, a tree whose trunk sits within 3 m of the dwelling can come out without a permit. This one covers a lot of ground in the older parts of Brisbane.
Measure it properly. The 3 m is from the trunk at ground level to the wall of the house — not to the gutter line, not to the edge of the deck, not to the shed. Run a tape, take a photo of the tape, and write the number down. If it comes in at 3.2 m, do not round it off in your own favour; check the council wording or give us a call before anyone starts cutting.
We see this constantly in Doolandella and Inala, where post-war houses had trees planted hard up against the wall when they were seedlings and nobody imagined what a poinciana or a camphor laurel does in fifty years. The roots are in the footings, the branches are on the roof, and the tree is well inside 3 m.
Case 3: Small trees under 30 cm trunk diameter
A tree in a garden or landscaped area with a trunk under 30 cm in diameter, measured at 1.4 m above the ground, is generally not caught by the local law.
Measuring a trunk is easier than it sounds and you do not need callipers. Put a tape measure around the trunk at chest height, read the circumference, and divide by 3.14. That gives you the diameter. So a trunk that measures 94 cm around the outside is right on the 30 cm mark — and if you are that close, treat it as protected and check first.
Two things trip people up here. Multi-stem trees are not simply the biggest stem, and a tree standing in natural bushland is not in a “garden or landscaped area”, so the exemption reads differently. Both are worth a phone call rather than a guess.
Case 4: An immediate hazard
If a tree is an immediate danger to people or property, you do not have to wait for paperwork. It can be made safe or removed straight away. What you do have to do is send council the photos and an arborist report within 10 business days, explaining what the danger was and what was done about it.
Immediate means immediate. A split stem you can see daylight through. A root plate that has lifted the lawn on one side after heavy rain. A storm-snapped limb hanging in the canopy over a child’s bedroom. Those are hazards.
What does not count: it drops leaves in the pool, it blocks the afternoon sun, it makes a mess on the driveway, the neighbour does not like it. Those are annoyances, and using the hazard exemption for one of them is the quickest way to turn a simple job into a problem.
This is the case where having an AQF Level 5 arborist on site actually matters. Our crews document the defect, take the photos from the angles council wants, and produce the arborist reports for council as part of the job, so the 10-day obligation is handled rather than forgotten. If you are looking at something you think is unsafe right now, that is a dangerous tree removal and it gets treated as one.
Case 5: Declared weed and pest species
Weed species are treated differently to natives and established amenity trees. Camphor laurel, Chinese elm and umbrella tree are the three we get asked about most around Algester and Oxley, and as a rule they are not protected in the way a native gum is.
We are deliberately not publishing a hard “exempt list” here, because the species lists change and yours may not be the species you think it is. Check the species list on council’s page, or send us a photo of the leaf and the bark and we will tell you what you have got.
Even a weed tree can catch you out. A camphor laurel with its canopy tangled into a protected neighbouring gum is one job, not two. And a weed tree standing in a waterway corridor along Oxley Creek is still standing in a waterway corridor. The species is one part of the answer, not the whole of it.
Camphor laurel deserves its own article, and it will get one in February — there is more to say about what it does to a yard than fits here.
When you DO need a permit — and why it isn’t scary
If your lot is mapped as protected vegetation, or the work goes past that 20% of live foliage, or you want a significant tree out that is not covered by any of the five cases above, you apply to council for a permit.
Two things people get wrong about this. First, Brisbane City Council protected vegetation permits are free — there is no council fee to apply. You can read the rules and lodge one through the BCC protected vegetation permits page. Second, it is a form, not a court case.
What the application needs is an arborist report explaining the condition of the tree and why the work is justified, clear photos, and a site plan showing where the tree sits in relation to the house and the boundaries. We prepare all three, because we are writing them anyway for the job. If you want the whole process laid out end to end, including how it differs across south-east Queensland, we have covered council approval for tree removal in Queensland in detail.
We will not tell you how long an approval takes — that depends on council’s workload and the job — and we will not put a number on what happens if you cut without one. Check council.
Logan and Ipswich are different
Everything above is Brisbane. The 3 m rule and the 30 cm rule are Brisbane City Council rules, and they do not apply once you cross the boundary.
Logan works off its planning scheme overlays instead — Biodiversity and Waterway. Lots under 5,000 m² outside the environmental and rural zones are generally exempt, as is native vegetation within 10 m of a house for bushfire clearance, and species such as Cadaghi and umbrella tree are treated as pests. The detail is on our Logan council tree rules page.
Ipswich runs on City Plan 2025, in force since 1 July 2025, where approval depends on your zone and whether the Biodiversity overlay sits over the lot. Ipswich does not publish trunk-diameter thresholds the way Brisbane does, so anyone quoting you one has made it up. Check ePlan or ring council, and read our Ipswich council tree regulations page first.
We run out of Ellen Grove and work across all three councils every week, so we will tell you which rulebook applies to your address before we quote the job, not after. That goes for a straight tree removal in Brisbane as much as for a complicated one. Check with council or ask us — this is the part we do every week.
Not sure if your tree needs a permit? Send us a photo and the address and we’ll tell you straight — request a free quote at dynamictreesolutions.com.au or call 1300 239 626.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Brisbane?
Only if the tree is protected under Brisbane's Natural Assets Local Law or the work goes beyond the exemptions. Trees within 3 m of the house, trunks under 30 cm at 1.4 m, and immediate hazards are commonly exempt.
How much does a Brisbane City Council vegetation permit cost?
Protected vegetation permits from Brisbane City Council are free. The cost is usually in the arborist report and photos that support the application.
Can I prune a protected tree without a permit?
Yes, up to 20% of the live foliage in any 12-month period, provided it is proper pruning and not lopping.
