Trees

Localised excavation with hand tools on the private property side of the driveway at the point of suspected interaction between roots and driveway will need to be undertaken by the Claimant.  You must contact us on 4974 2000 to arrange for a City Greening Tree Inspection Officer to inspect the site once tree roots have been exposed.  NOTE:  Claimant's are required to provide at least one week's notice prior to excavation commencing.

Excavation on public land however requires you to obtain approval from us under Section 138-Application for a driveway and/or road opening permit Type 1.  Once Section 138 approval has been granted you must contact us on 4974 2000 to arrange for a City Greening Tree Inspection Officer to inspect the site once tree roots have been exposed.  NOTE:  Claimant's are required to provide at least one week's notice prior to excavation commencing.

Caution is to be taken prior to excavating. Dial before you dig plans should be sourced, by phoning 1100 or visiting www.1100.com.au, to assist in locating the public underground utilities. Residents should adequately determine location of private services, such as water gas/electricity and phone lines to prevent damage or personal injury. A qualified trade person may be required to safely locate all services.

To minimise risk any excavation undertaken for the purpose of inspection should be kept to the immediate area of suspected interaction. If in doubt, contact a suitably qualified and insured trade person or service provider to carry out the excavation works.

Caution should also be taken if excavating near brick footing walls or fences above 1.0m high as a excavation may destabilise the wall/fence

NOTE:

1. We do not carry out investigations on private land 
2. Tree roots should NOT be cut and removed 
3. To facilitate inspection any tree roots should be carefully uncovered and left intact with no damage to the outer layer

Prior to commencing driveway construction the claimant is required to gain approval from us under Section 138-Application for a driveway and/or road opening permit Type 1 to remove either a portion of the driveway/crossover or the entire driveway/crossover prior to any works commencing to confirm that it meets appropriate standards at the time of construction.  The claimant must email claims@ncc.nsw.gov.au attaching the receipt showing payment has been made, and to enable us to reimburse you this fee if your claim is approved

Payment of claim - after your claim has been investigated and if approval has been determined, payment will be made when we receive from the claimant, notification that CN has approved your driveway application.

 Consulting Arborist report/s are to:

1. Include business name and details, address of property inspection and methodology used
2. Detail the structure’s integrity and standard of construction, providing evidence to support the claim regarding the alleged damage being caused by our trees
3. Identify all contributing factors including but not limited to reactive soils, mine subsidence, age of the structure, earthquake, storm, or flood damage
4. Demonstrate that our tree roots are directly interacting with the structure and that surrounding material is creating pressure between roots and the structure
5. Report is to be formatted in accordance with our Urban Forest Technical Manual (see link below)
6. Include and identify all existing and recently removed trees on the claimant's property, immediate neighbours properties and public land
7. Identify which tree/s may be implicated and what options, other than removal, are available to mitigate any claimed damage - for examples refer to Part B of CN's Urban Forest Technical Manual 2018
8. Address the property damage test within 12 months of assessment outlined in Part B Section 4.1.3 CN's Urban Forest Technical Manual 2018

The test is to determine if public or private property (including utility services, footpaths, driveways, retaining walls and buildings) is being significantly affected by the presence, location or growth of a tree, and it is shown that tree removal is the only reasonable means to avoid further impact.

The purpose of the test is to assess the degree of impact a tree is having on built assets (including utility services, footpaths, driveways, retaining walls and buildings) and to demonstrate removal as the only reasonable option to avoid further conflice, within the short term ie 12 months.

Localised excavation with hand tools on the private property side of the boundary fence/wall at the point of suspected interaction between roots and fence will need to be undertaken by the Claimant.  You must contact us on 4974 2000 to arrange for a City Greening Tree Inspection Officer to inspect the site once tree roots have been exposed.  NOTE:  Claimant's are required to provide at least one week's notice prior to excavation commencing.

Caution is to be taken prior to excavating. Dial before you dig plans should be sourced, by phoning 1100 or visiting www.1100.com.au, to assist in locating the public underground utilities. Residents should adequately determine location of private services, such as water gas/electricity and phone lines to prevent damage or personal injury. A qualified trade person may be required to safely locate all services.

Caution should also be taken when excavating near brick footing walls or fences above 1.0m high as a full length trench excavation may destabilise the wall/fence.

To facilitate inspection any tree roots should be uncovered carefully and left intact with no damage to the outer layer. Claimants should not cut and remove tree roots.

To minimise risk any excavation undertaken for the purpose of inspection should be kept to the immediate area of suspected interaction. If in doubt, contact a suitably qualified and insured trade person or service provider to carry out the excavation works.

 Consulting Arborist report/s are to:

1. Include business name and details, address of property inspection and methodology used
2. Detail the structure’s integrity and standard of construction, providing evidence to support the claim regarding the alleged damage being caused by our trees
3. Identify all contributing factors including but not limited to reactive soils, mine subsidence, age of the structure, earthquake, storm, or flood damage
4. Demonstrate that our tree roots are directly interacting with the structure and that surrounding material is creating pressure between roots and the structure
5. Report is to be formatted in accordance with our Urban Forest Technical Manual (see link below)
6. Include and identify all existing and recently removed trees on the claimant's property, immediate neighbours properties and public land
7. Identify which tree/s may be implicated and what options, other than removal, are available to mitigate any claimed damage - for examples refer to Part B of CN's Urban Forest Technical Manual 2018
8. Address the property damage test within 12 months of assessment outlined in Part B Section 4.1.3 CN's Urban Forest Technical Manual 2018

The test is to determine if public or private proerty (including utility services, footpaths, driveways, retaining walls and buildings) is being significantly affected by the presence, location or growth of a tree, and it is shown that tree removal is the only reasonable means to avoid further impact.

The purpose of the test is to assess the degree of impact a tree is having on built assets (including utility services, footpaths, driveways, retaining walls and buildings) and to demonstrate removal as the only reasonable option to avoid further conflice, within the short term ie 12 months.

NOTE: 

• Maintaining and replacing sewer and stormwater lines is the responsibility of the landowner.  This includes repairing damaged or aged pipes and clearing chokes 
• Replacing aged or faulty sewer systems with PVC up to the sewer mains supply connection is the responsibility of the landowner.  Tree roots cannot enter well-constructed, properly sealed, sound PVC pipes with adequate flexibility

The following information is the minimum evidence required by us for claims relating to sewer and stormwater.

1. Copy of service plan (sewer main) of the property address, sourced from Hunter Water via dial before you dig www.1100.com.au or phone 1100 (free service). 
2. Where the claimant has access to Google Maps (or similar), a clear copy of the most recent aerial satellite photo of the property address and surrounding neighbours, clearly showing structures and vegetation. 
3. Licensed plumber and/or other appropriately qualified service provider report/s which includes the following information: 

• Business name and details
• Address of property inspection and methodology used
• Pipe type, age and condition
• Other contributing factors and options to repair the pipe at point of blockage.  NOTE:  Clearing roots from the pipe is not repair.  Maintenance of the pipe system is the resident's responsibility.
• Clear and concise plan of the property’s sewer showing the location of all pipe work, direction of flow and the location of the blockage identified on the plan. 
• The map must clearly and accurately identify the layout of the private sewer system and blockage location and the plumber's entry point for the internal inspection. Residents may have to engage the services of a plumber, building designer or surveyor to produce such plans (see note 1).
• Camera footage is required of sewer system showing the blockage/s and evidence of root ingress.  Camera footage should identify the distance from entry point of inspection to the blockage, which should be referenced to the accompanying property sewer plan. The path of inspection should be clearly marked on the property sewer plan. 

Note 1:  Details regarding pipe layouts may be obtained from survey plans or building plans.  A plumber may be able to map all pipe work onto a building plan.  Alternatively, Hunter Water may have records of plans submitted as part of development and infrastructure installations.

A structure is anything constructed on private property with approval or consent of the relevant authority, except fences which are separately dealt with refer to 'Fences or walls along property boundaries'.

NOTE:

• We do not carry out investigations on private land 
• Tree roots should NOT be cut and removed 
• Tree roots should be carefully uncovered and left intact with no damage to the outer layer 
• Caution is to be taken prior to excavating.  Dial before you dig plans should be sourced by phoning 1100 or visiting www.1100.com.au to assist in locating public underground utilities.  Residents should adequately determine the location of private services such as water, gas, electricity and phone lines to prevent damage or personal injury.  A qualified trade person may be required to safely locate all services
• Caution should be taken when excavating near brick footing walls or fences above 1.0m high as a full length trench excavation may destabalise the wall or fence
• In order to demonstrate tree root interaction, the property owner will need to engage a professinal person eg Arborist and/or Engineer to carry out localised excavation on private property at the point of suspected contact between tree roots and the structure

Relevant independent professional report/s are required to support claims alleging structural damage and the following information is required as a minimum.

Where the claimant has access to Google Maps (or similar), a clear copy of the most recent aerial satellite photo of the property address and surrounding neighbours, clearly showing structures and vegetation

Tree root diameter, direction, type, whether it appears to be alive or dead and the distance to tree/s should all be measured and recorded

Clear concise photos showing direct interaction of tree roots to structures at adequate or varying zoom, so as to provide reference to surrounding structures and the property, ie photos should show reference to direction and scale by including background structures or using objects of generally known size, eg sunglasses

Example of investigation images required (pdf)

Engineer's report/s are to:

1. Include business name and details, address of property inspection and methodology used
2. Detail the structure’s integrity and standard of construction, including footings, and provide evidence to support any claims made regarding alleged damage by our trees
3. Identify all contributing factors including but not limited to reactive soils, mine subsidence, age of the structure, earthquake, storm, or flood damage
4. Demonstrate that our tree roots are directly interacting with the structure and that surrounding material is creating pressure between roots and the structure

Consulting Arborist report/s are to:

1. Include business name and details, address of property inspection and methodology used
2. Detail the structure’s integrity and standard of construction, providing evidence to support the claim regarding the alleged damage being caused by our trees
3. Identify all contributing factors including but not limited to reactive soils, mine subsidence, age of the structure, earthquake, storm, or flood damage
4. Demonstrate that our tree roots are directly interacting with the structure and that surrounding material is creating pressure between roots and the structure
5. Report is to be formatted in accordance with our Urban Forest Technical Manual (see link below)
6. Include and identify all existing and recently removed trees on the claimant's property, immediate neighbours properties and public land
7. Identify which tree/s may be implicated and what options, other than removal, are available to mitigate any claimed damage - for examples refer to Part B of CN's Urban Forest Technical Manual 2018
8. Address the property damage test within 12 months of assessment outlined in Part B Section 4.1.3 CN's Urban Forest Technical Manual 2018

The test is to determine if public or private proerty (including utility services, footpaths, driveways, retaining walls and buildings) is being significantly affected by the presence, location or growth of a tree, and it is shown that tree removal is the only reasonable means to avoid further impact.

The purpose of the test is to assess the degree of impact a tree is having on built assets (including utility services, footpaths, driveways, retaining walls and buildings) and to demonstrate removal as the only reasonable option to avoid further conflice, within the short term ie 12 months.