Tool
Do I Need a Council Permit to Remove a Tree in Brisbane? Brisbane, Redland, Logan, Moreton Bay and Gold Coast. Answer six questions and get a plain-English read on your council's rules, with links to the source. It is general information from the councils' own fact sheets, not legal advice, and mapped overlays can override the general exemptions. We check the mapping for your address as part of every quote.
Council
Brisbane City Council
Redland City Council
Logan City Council
City of Moreton Bay
City of Gold Coast
What is the tree?
Native tree (gum, ironbark, paperbark, she-oak…)
Exotic / ornamental (jacaranda, poinciana, leopard tree…)
Palm (cocos, golden cane, Alexandra…)
Declared weed (camphor laurel, Chinese elm, umbrella tree)
Condition
Healthy
Dead
Obvious hazard (split trunk, lifted roots, storm damage)
Distance from the house
Trunk within 3m of the house
3–10m from the house
More than 10m away
Trunk diameter at chest height
Under 20cm
20–30cm
Over 30cm
Job
Remove the tree
Prune up to 20% of the canopy
Heavy reduction (more than 20%)
Get a quote and we will confirm it
The rules in each council, briefly
Redland City Council
Trees on private land in Redland City can be protected through environmental overlays of the Redland City Plan or Local Law No. 6 (Protection of Vegetation). In urban zones, Council's vegetation clearing fact sheet allows clearing of up to 500m² without approval outside mapped areas, and Council confirmed in November 2025 that routine trimming along fence lines and near buildings is not regulated under the City Plan. Koala habitat is the big one here: the Redlands Coast Koala Conservation Action Plan aims for no net loss of native vegetation, and blue gums, tallowwoods, grey gums and scribbly gums are the trees most likely to be mapped. We check the overlay for your address before we quote. Source .
Logan City Council
Logan protects vegetation through the Biodiversity Areas Overlay and the Waterway Corridors and Wetlands Overlay of the Logan Planning Scheme 2015. Outside those mapped areas, clearing on a lot under 5,000m² is generally exempt, as is a bushfire protection zone within 10 metres of a dwelling, garden and lawn maintenance, and removal of cadaghi and umbrella trees. Inside a Biodiversity Area, a koala corridor or a waterway corridor you need an operational works approval. Council has an online vegetation clearing decision tool and we run your address through the mapping before quoting. Source .
Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council's Natural Assets Local Law 2003 protects vegetation in mapped bushland, waterway corridors, significant native and urban vegetation and under Vegetation Protection Orders, including on private land. Council's fact sheet sets out the exemptions that cover most suburban jobs: a tree whose whole trunk is within 3 metres of a lawfully built, occupied dwelling (6 metres on lots over 4,000m²), garden trees under 30cm trunk diameter at 1.4 metres, fence-line trees under 20cm, pruning of up to 20 per cent of live foliage in 12 months, dead trees, and trees showing an immediate hazard. Permit applications are free. None of the exemptions apply to significant landscape trees, and we check the mapping for your address as part of the quote. Source .
Brisbane City Council / City of Moreton Bay
Most of the northside is Brisbane City Council, where the Natural Assets Local Law 2003 applies and the council fact sheet exempts trees within 3 metres of the house, trees under 30cm trunk diameter, dead and hazardous trees, and pruning of up to 20 per cent of foliage a year. Albany Creek, Strathpine, North Lakes and everything north of the Pine River is the City of Moreton Bay, which protects habitat trees and koala habitat through its planning scheme overlays and says you may need approval before clearing. We check whichever mapping applies to your address before quoting. Source .
City of Gold Coast
The City of Gold Coast treats any tree over 4 metres tall or with a trunk circumference over 40cm at 1.3 metres as assessable vegetation, along with mapped native and remnant vegetation. Removal is accepted development without an application in a number of situations, including near boundaries and buildings (the distance depends on lot size), within 1.5 metres of a pool fence, pest species, bushfire hazard around a dwelling and trees confirmed dangerous by a council arborist; otherwise an operational works application is needed. We check the situation for your lot before we quote. Source .
Koala habitat (state rules)
Across south-east Queensland, the Planning Regulation 2017 protects koala habitat trees in mapped koala priority and habitat areas. Removing or damaging them needs approval unless an exemption applies, including a once-off 500m² allowance around a home, emergency response to an imminent risk, and fire breaks. Source .
Read the full council tree removal permit guide .
