Tree Removal Lucas
Lucas is named after Eleanor Lucas and the “Lucas Girls”, the 500 workers of her textile company who planned, paid for and planted Ballarat’s Avenue of Honour after World War I. The City of Ballarat created the suburb in 2011, and its first trees went in during 2012. Its streets are named after WWI service personnel, and Remembrance Drive, the Avenue itself, forms one of its boundaries.
This page is from Tree Removal Ballarat. It covers what living beside the Avenue, and in a suburb whose trees are still young, means for tree work on a Lucas property.
Living beside the Avenue of Honour
When the suburb was planned, its boundaries were set as Remembrance Drive, Dyson Drive, Ballarat–Carngham Road and the Ballarat–Skipton Rail Trail. Remembrance Drive is part of the Avenue of Honour, Australia’s longest commemorative avenue, which carries the names of 3,801 WWI service personnel. Lucas street signs are even numbered to match the Avenue trees of the same family name.
The Avenue trees are heritage-listed and managed by council. If one overhangs your back fence, report it to the City of Ballarat rather than pruning it yourself. Plan any works near the Avenue boundary, such as fences, sheds or services, with council first. See our Alfredton page for more on the Avenue’s heritage listing.
A suburb planted from 2012
Because Lucas was farmland until recently, most of its trees are young, and the common problems are different from older suburbs:
- fast-growing screening trees planted too close to fences, sheds or the house
- young trees that were never pruned to a good structure
- roots pushing against new paving, edging or pipes
Dealing with these early is much cheaper. Removing a young tree and grinding out its stump is a far smaller job than waiting until it’s large. See stump removal.
Estate rules and council trees
Lucas sits in the Ballarat West growth area, which is covered by detailed precinct plans. On a developed lot, what usually matters now is your title and the estate’s permit, not the precinct plans themselves. Our Delacombe page explains the Ballarat West plans in more detail.
- check your title for any covenant about vegetation or front gardens
- check whether the tree was planted as part of the estate’s landscape plan
- remember that nature strip and park trees belong to the City of Ballarat
- if your lot backs onto Remembrance Drive, leave the Avenue trees to council
Nearby areas
Alfredton, across the Avenue, has the Arch of Victory at the start of Remembrance Drive. Delacombe is to the south.
Common questions
Can I remove a tree the builder planted in my front yard?
Usually, unless your title has a covenant about front gardens or the tree was required by the estate’s landscape plan. Check those first.
An Avenue tree drops branches into my yard. What do I do?
Report it to the City of Ballarat. The Avenue of Honour is heritage-listed and council-managed, so don’t prune it yourself.
My young tree is growing lopsided. Should I prune it now?
Often, yes. Light formative pruning while a tree is young, cutting at the branch collar, sets up a better structure and avoids bigger cuts later.
What should I send for a quote?
Photos of the tree, a rough height, what’s nearby (the house, fences, paving), and the width of your side access.
Get a quote in Lucas
Send photos and your address through the form, or call to talk it through.