Parramatta Council refused tree removal – worth appealing?

LL95 · Sep 16, 2025 10:31 pm

Hi all,
We’re in the early stages of planning a knockdown rebuild in Parramatta and have hit a bit of a hurdle. Our application to remove an 8m mango tree in the backyard was rejected by council. Our reasoning for this removal was that it is a bit close to the foundation and may cause structural issues in the future.

The reason they've given for the rejection was:

Quote:

“Refused removal as the subject tree was in good condition at the time of inspection and as it provides amenity to the location. No pruning is required at this time.”

Has anyone here successfully appealed a tree removal rejection with Parramatta Council (or similar councils)? Is it worthwhile lodging an appeal, and realistically, what are the chances of it being approved?

Below is a picture of the proposed tree removal labelled T02

Would really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences or any tips on how to approach this.

Thanks in advance!

Ashington Homes · Sep 17, 2025 6:27 am

LL95

Having been there and done that many times, appealing a tree removal rejections are a waste of time which is why so many people just take the trees down and cop the fine.

Councils have been taken over by crazy lunatics who won't see reason even if a tree poses danger to human life.

What they will tell you is that you need to design your structure around the tree.

We do a lot of BAL FZ builds and the funny thing is watching NSW Rural Fire Service order us to take trees out that council want kept.

So basically your choices are:

1. Take it out and cop a small fine
2. Design around it and enjoy your mangoes
3. Accidently dig too close to the tree, damage the roots and have council order you to take it out. Again you will get a fine.

All the best

Simeon

LL95 · Sep 18, 2025 5:12 pm

Thanks for all the advice Simeon.

Guess for this one, we'll just need to leave it and design around it.

SandaraH · Sep 26, 2025 11:54 am

Ashington Homes

LL95

Having been there and done that many times, appealing a tree removal rejections are a waste of time which is why so many people just take the trees down and cop the fine.

Councils have been taken over by crazy lunatics who won't see reason even if a tree poses danger to human life.

What they will tell you is that you need to design your structure around the tree.

We do a lot of BAL FZ builds and the funny thing is watching NSW Rural Fire Service order us to take trees out that council want kept.

So basically your choices are:

1. Take it out and cop a small fine
2. Design around it and enjoy your mangoes
3. Accidently dig too close to the tree, damage the roots and have council order you to take it out. Again you will get a fine.

All the best

Simeon

Yeah, councils can be a nightmare with this stuff. It’s wild how one department says 'leave the tree' while fire services say 'take it out.' At the end of the day, most people just pick the least painful option and deal with the fine. Kind of feels like the rules were made without anyone actually living in these situations.