![\"Deputy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/24e41f066a704815f5262c08fd33da15df737d7e.jpg\")
Camera IconDeputy mayor Elli Petersen-Pik added an additional limb to make a register of regulated trees to inform future property owners if there are any on their land. Credit: Facebook<\/p>\nMost trees on private land will be protected under the City of Bayswater\u2019s new tree retention policy.<\/p>\n
The new policy aims to prevent developers from clearing mature trees without proper planning approval but will not apply to properties with a single house.<\/p>\n
It is intended to tackle the larger issue of clearing mature trees for bigger developments and subdivisions.<\/p>\n
Under the policy, development approval will be needed for the removal of or interference with a \u201cregulated tree,\u201d which is defined by the city as a tree more than 8m tall, with a trunk circumference of at least 1.5m, canopy of 6m and is not a weed.<\/p>\n
It was passed 5-4 at last month\u2019s council meeting.<\/p>\n
Deputy mayor Elli Petersen-Pik also asked that a register of \u201cregulated trees\u201d captured under the policy be created which would alert prospective landowners to them before buying a property.<\/p>\n
Cr Petersen-Pik said more than 80 per cent of tree canopy was lost on private land.<\/p>\n
Camera IconDeputy mayor Elli Petersen-Pik added an additional limb to make a register of regulated trees to inform future property owners if there are any on their land. Credit: Facebook<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive, ongoing issue that will just getting bigger and bigger, which will make it harder for us to meet our canopy target,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cr Petersen-Pik said most residents who submitted feedback on the policy made it clear they supported a \u201cmiddle way\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis policy in front of us is not perfect, it will not capture all trees, it should not capture all trees and we will not stop all free canopy being lost on private property. That\u2019s not the intention,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we will hopefully stop some.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cr Petersen-Pik said the council could amend the policy at \u201cany time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Filomena Piffaretti said government should \u201ckeep their hands off\u201d people\u2019s private property.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s concerning to me when I hear comment that people should be prevented from cutting down a tree in their backyard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s comments like that which could actually deter people from planting a tree on their private property in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Developers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/98299950478688a6294a98bec40b633d73122f66.jpg\")
Camera IconDevelopers in the eastern suburbs could soon be \u201cdiscouraged\u201d from removing large trees as the City of Bayswater looks at tightening tree protection rules for developers. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n
Despite this, she said the council needed to represent all views in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been mentioned previously that there are some people that want more and there are some people that want less than this, so I agree with the comments that have been made that this is a compromised position,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cr Nat Latter said that although the policy was not her ideal option as it did not have the impact she was looking for, it was a good representation of what the community wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does not prevent people from cutting down a tree in their backyard and for me that is one of the failings of this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But Cr Giorgia Johnson said the policy did not go far enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the calls I get to my office is about when a property is being developed and all the trees on the block are being cleared,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tree canopy is very important to the amenity of the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of those trees will still not have protection for single-residential developments; it doesn\u2019t protect trees where the decision-maker is not the City of Bayswater.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most trees on private land will be protected under the City of Bayswater\u2019s new tree retention policy. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,505,75,46,128,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-119607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-central","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-perth","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}