Public Safety and Maintenance Practices

Our tree risk management program sets priorities for all City trees based upon inspections, assessment and reporting including those made from resident service requests.

The City has a streetscapes maintenance program to manage established trees using best practice methods by routinely undertaking maintenance and care of trees through the following:

• Periodically checking for dead, dying, diseased, spreading roots, extended branches and structural integrity of trees.
• Undertaking the removal of limbs and pruning to reduce weight, should a tree be determined as an identified risk.
• Ongoing monitoring of a tree’s health for any decline, and if identified as an unacceptable risk, tree removal. Where possible, a new tree will be planted in an appropriate place as a replacement.

• Selecting tree species that are suitable for the urban environment.
• Once an appropriate species has been selected, consideration is given to its location, planting and maintenance, taking into account the suitability of the tree species and the specific suburban landscape.
• If your new tree has been planted as part of a new development you will need to contact the developer for further information on how they manage trees as part of that development.

Our tree assessor will take numerous factors into account to determine the level of risk posed by a tree or branch and assign a tree priority ranking based on some of the following factors:

• Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment (QTRA)
• Helliwell Valuation method
• All trees are managed in accordance with the City’s policy ENG 6 – Street Trees

Some of the tasks undertaken in managing the City’s trees include:

• Visual tree assessments and reports
• Detailed assessments (arborist)
• Tree pruning works
• Tree removal works
• Power line and utility clearance pruning
• General tree monitoring and treatment
• Hazard reduction/management

If a tree is found to need continued monitoring and assessment, it will be placed onto our tree monitoring and assessment schedule for specific review/reporting and actions.

Please report damaged or fallen trees immediately and use caution around them until our crews have arrived and assessed the condition.

If the tree is entangled in electrical wires. Please make the safe call and contact Western Power 13 13 51 to report a tree touching or close to powerlines.

The first priority for the City’s Parks services team during a major storm event will continue to be safety. All storm damaged trees will be made safe and cleared from the public rights of way in timely manner.

A formal claim must be submitted in writing to the City.

Once an issue is reported it will be inspected and referred to the City’s insurers to investigate further.

The City’s Town Planning Scheme No.4 provides a number of mechanisms to protect significant trees or groups of trees. Tree Preservation Orders (TPO) is one mechanism which allows the City to serve a notice requiring landholders to preserve a tree or group of trees under Clause 80A of Schedule A. Unless the City grants approval or revokes the notice or order, landowners are prohibited from cutting, removing, or otherwise damaging any conserved tree. To nominate a tree/s for a preservation order please refer to the City's Tree Preservation page https://www.armadale.wa.gov.au/tree-preservation-orders.