The Tree Management Policy was adopted by Council at the 25 May 2021 meeting.

It aims to provide a clear agreement with the community as to how Council will manage its trees.

The policy identifies six guiding principles Council will use to guide its day-to-day activities:

• Tree Retention
• Planting
• Community Safety
• Property Protection
• Customer Responsiveness
• Governance

View the policy here: https://shape.monash.vic.gov.au/tree-policy

We are seeking community feedback on the draft Tree Management Policy.

The draft Policy aims to form a clear understanding and agreement with the community on how Council will manage its trees located on Council managed land.

The draft policy aims to achieve the following objectives;

• To recognise the importance of the tree canopy throughout the City
• To recognise the importance of street trees, bushland and indigenous trees and the ecological and economic role they play in the City
• To increase and enhance the extent of tree canopy throughout the City through planting of appropriately selected trees in streets, public spaces and bushland areas
• To provide workable assessment criteria for the management of trees on Council land e.g. tree removal, pruning and planting
• To meet all legislative requirements and standards relating to the management of Council trees.

The draft Policy provides a set of guiding principles, relevant legislation and operational guidance which will be used by Council to manage its trees on a day to day basis.

The guiding principles aim to recognise that there are a number of equally valuable aspects that must guide and inform the decision making and action of Council in any tree matter.

We invite you review the draft policy and provide constructive feedback. We want to know where you think we have got it right and what might need to change?

Your feedback will help us to create a final policy that works for everyone.

We will collate and consider all feedback that you provide. After that, we will report back to Council with any recommended changes. We will share the final Tree Management Policy with you by mid-2021.

The final policy and tree management plan will be implemented for all trees on Council-managed streets, roads, reserves and public open space.

Feedback closed on Sunday 14 March 2021.

Monash City Council is committed to protecting personal information provided by you in accordance with the principles of the Victorian Privacy & Data Protection Act 2014.

The information you provide will be used to assist Council staff to determine the community support for the principles of the draft Tree Management Policy.

Your contact details may be used by Council to update you on progress of the project.

You may access information you have provided to Council and make corrections if you believe that information is incorrect. For further information including Council’s information privacy policy, visit www.monash.vic.gov.au