The Hill
Tree removal in The Hill
Tree removal and pruning on The Hill, where most yards are inside a heritage conservation area and the access is stairs and lanes.
Tree work in The Hill
Heritage streets, stairs and lanes
The Newcastle DCP describes The Hill as a significant historic landscape containing numerous heritage items, significant trees, ocean and harbour views and a steep topography. Mature trees in gardens are among the elements the heritage area is meant to keep.
The DCP lists the suburb's steep street layout, sandstone kerbing, public stairs, lanes and parks among the features to preserve. For tree work that means timber is often carried down steps or out through a rear lane rather than loaded at the kerb.
The two storey scale of housing stock is an original defining feature of the area, so a tall tree in a back yard usually stands between two upper storeys, with very little room to lower anything.
Services in The Hill
Tight yards in a heritage area
Tree pruning
Branches cleared off upper storeys and roofs, cut back to branches that keep the tree's shape.
Tree removal
Taken down in short pieces and carried out by the stairs or the lane where nothing can be dropped.
Tree removal permits
How the heritage area changes the usual exemptions before anything is quoted.
How it works
From the first message to a written quote
The council question is settled before any price, and nothing is booked until you have said yes to a quote in writing.
- 1
Tell us what the tree is doing
Where it stands, what it hangs over and what you would like done about it.
- 2
A contractor comes to see it
A tree contractor who covers your suburb looks at the tree, the access and what is underneath it.
- 3
The council question is answered
Your council, the tree's height and trunk, its distance from the house and the species decide whether a permit or an exemption applies.
- 4
You get it in writing
Scope, timber, stump and date on one page, and nothing is booked until you have said yes.
The Hill questions
Heritage rules and the parks
Do the usual exemptions work on The Hill?
Often not. Newcastle's exemptions for trees near buildings, storm damaged trees and weed species do not apply in a heritage conservation area where the tree is visible from the street or other public areas other than a lane. A tree seen only from a lane can still qualify.
Are the trees in the parks part of this?
No. The heritage area's parks, including the Newcastle Recreation Reserve, Fletcher Park, and Cathedral Park, are public land and the council's own work. Trees on your own block are quoted in the ordinary way.
Does a heritage application take longer?
It can. The City of Newcastle says most applications are processed within 30 days, but trees in a heritage conservation area are referred to its heritage officer and may take longer.
