As the title suggest, approximately what is the fine for removing a protected tree?
I am trying to get a planning permit for a house in the leafy outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I have done absolutely everything by the book. I have got permits to remove scrappy and insignificant trees, I paid $3500 for an arborists report, and I designed my house to fit in well with the natural landscape. There are two protected gums on my block, one is close-ish to where I proposed to build my house.
The arborist recommended for us to either build the house using non-invasive building techniques (he said this was expensive but we are doing this) or move the house back 4m from the proposed siting - cheaper and easier. We chose to use non-invasive building techniques. So we went ahead and did the engineering, did all the plans, sent them into council, and now council have said despite what the arborist said, they still feel it's safer for the tree to move the house back 4m.
I don't want to move the house back 4m!!! We are already 15m back from the street, and it will cost is another $1500 to get the whole house re-engineered.
I am positively seething, this is so unfair, the tree will be perfectly fine. I am at the point that I just want to pull this stupid tree out of the ground. Hence my question, if we did that, what ramifications can I expect?