Body Corporate Tree Removal Ballarat
In Victoria, a body corporate is legally an owners corporation, and tree work on shared property comes with questions a house owner never has to ask. Whose tree is it? Who can approve the cost? Does a landscaping condition from when the units were built still apply?
Tree Removal Ballarat wrote this page for owners corporation managers, committee members and owners of unit and townhouse developments around Ballarat. It covers who’s responsible, what needs approval and what a committee needs in a quote.
Whose tree is it?
The plan of subdivision shows where each lot ends and common property begins, and that boundary usually decides who pays and who approves.
| Where the tree is | Usually responsible |
|---|---|
| Shared driveway, car park, common garden or boundary strip | The owners corporation, approved through the manager or committee |
| Inside a lot, such as a private courtyard | That lot owner, unless the owners corporation rules say otherwise |
| Nature strip out the front | Generally the City of Ballarat, as a street tree. Contact council rather than arranging private work. |
If a tree straddles a boundary or the plan isn’t clear, sort that out before quotes are approved. It saves disputes about the invoice later.
Check the development’s planning permit
Newer unit and townhouse developments are often approved with a landscape plan, and trees planted or kept under that plan can be a condition of the original planning permit. Removing one can need council approval even when the tree is ordinary and fairly young.
Older sites have the same overlay and register checks as any Ballarat property, including heritage overlays and the City’s Exceptional Tree Register. Our arborist page explains those and what council asks for in a permit application.
Maintenance plans and owners corporation tiers
Since the 2021 changes to the Owners Corporations Act, owners corporations are grouped into five tiers by number of lots. Tier 1 (more than 100 lots) and tier 2 (51 to 100 lots) must prepare and approve a maintenance plan. Tiers 3 to 5, which covers most unit developments in Ballarat, can have one but don’t have to.
For sites with large trees on common property, including scheduled pruning in a maintenance plan, even an optional one, turns surprise expenses into budgeted ones.
Ballarat risks worth putting on the committee’s radar
Storms and shared car parks
On a shared site, a falling limb can hit several owners’ cars at once. Ballarat gets regular damaging wind. In the late August to early September storms of 2024, the SES received 137 requests for help around Ballarat, including 61 trees down, with the south-east of the city hit hardest.
During severe weather warnings, authorities advise moving vehicles away from trees. A committee can reduce the risk ahead of time by having trees over car spaces looked at before winter, rather than after the first storm.
Sites on the bushfire edge
Developments in parts of Brown Hill, Ballarat East, Buninyong, Mount Clear, Mount Helen and Ross Creek, or near the Creswick and Canadian state forests, may fall under the Bushfire Management Overlay. If the development was approved with a bushfire management plan, its vegetation conditions, such as clearance under branches and along access driveways, generally carry on after the units are sold. On common property, keeping to them becomes the owners corporation’s job. See canopy lifting for the usual clearance figures.
Elms on older sites
Ballarat’s elm population is one of the most significant in the world, according to the City of Ballarat, and council says most elms in the city carry elm leaf beetle. Council treats elms on public land, but elms on common property are the owners corporation’s responsibility. Leaves going lacy and brown each summer is the usual sign, and it’s worth noting in the maintenance plan if the site has one.
What a committee needs in a quote
- each tree separately, with its location on the property and a photo
- whether it’s pruning, removal or stump grinding, priced line by line
- access needs, such as residents moving cars from a shared car park
- what happens to green waste
- any council approval that needs to be in place first
Itemising per tree also lets the committee approve urgent work now and defer the rest to the next budget.
How a job runs on a shared site
- Request. The manager or committee contact sends photos, the site address and which trees are involved.
- Quote. An itemised quote goes back to the person who will take it to the committee.
- Approval and notice. Once approved, residents are told when work is happening and which areas need to be clear.
- The work. Pruning, removal or stump grinding is carried out as quoted.
Common jobs on unit and townhouse sites
Most strata tree work comes down to clearance and conflicts with buildings: branches over roofs and gutters, limbs low over a shared driveway or car spaces, roots lifting paths, and trees that have outgrown a narrow garden bed between units. Raising the canopy is often enough for driveway and car park clearance. See canopy lifting. For larger sites run as businesses, such as retirement villages, see commercial tree work.
Common questions
Can one owner arrange removal of a tree on common property?
Generally not on their own. Work on common property is a decision for the owners corporation, so start with the manager or committee.
A tree in a neighbour’s courtyard is dropping branches on common property. Who deals with it?
The tree is usually that lot owner’s responsibility. Raise it with the manager or committee, who can take it up with the owner under the owners corporation rules.
Can work be done without residents moving their cars?
It depends on where the tree is. Branches over a shared car park usually need the spaces underneath cleared while work is happening, which is why notice to residents matters.
Get a quote
Send the site address, photos of the trees and the best contact for approvals through the form, or call to talk it through.