Gums and scrub on both banks of a still stretch of the Yarra, reflected in the water

Tree removal in Wonga Park

Wonga Park has three councils, but nine-tenths of it is Manningham, and on a Manningham house block the overlays catch nearly every tree.

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The Yarra River at Wonga Park. Photo: Luke Steenhuis, CC BY-SA 4.0

The rule in Wonga Park

Wonga Park is split between three councils, but not evenly. Of the 367 points we sampled, 336 were in Manningham, and every one of the 32 that fell on its low-density house blocks was under ESO4 or SLO1. They share the strictest house-block test on this site. A permit is needed for every native plant that is indigenous to Victoria, whatever its size, and for any other tree over either of these:

35 cm: around the trunk, 1.3 m above the ground. A trunk about 11 cm across, below even Yarra Ranges' 50 cm township threshold.
6 m: tall. A slim tree over 6 m needs a permit even with a thin trunk. Exotic trees count as much as natives.

Drawn to scale around a 12 m by 9 m house. The dashed ring is a state rule; the solid ring is a council overlay.

2 m: A trunk within 2 m of the roof of a house is exempt, measured from the roof and eaves, not the wall. It applies to a building people live in, not a shed.
10 m: The 10/30 rule. 364 of our 367 points were in a Bushfire Prone Area. It overrides these overlays for a house built or approved before 10 September 2009. The conditions.

Dead vegetation is exempt, except a dead eucalypt more than 1 m around the trunk and more than 20 m from a building. Pruning an exotic or non-Victorian tree for regeneration or ornamental shape is exempt, and so are the species each schedule's table lists.

Get a free property report from VicPlan to see which overlays cover your block.

Checked 23 October 2026 against Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule 4 to Clause 42.01 (ESO4), Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule 1 to Clause 42.03 (SLO1) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).

The bush blocks: ESO2 and ESO3

Most of Manningham's side is Rural Conservation Zone, 246 of our points, under two environmental overlays. ESO2 needs a permit for Victorian native vegetation of any size, trees, shrubs and grasses alike, and for the big dead eucalypts. ESO3 adds Australian native trees from outside Victoria over 35 cm around or 6 m tall. Neither catches an exotic tree. Both share the 2 m roof exemption.

The Bushfire Management Overlay covered 320 of the 336 Manningham points, so for an older house the clearing distances in the state's rule reach out to 50 m for everything except trees.

Checked 23 October 2026 against Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.01 (ESO2), Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule 3 to Clause 42.01 (ESO3) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).

Along the Yarra: two different SLO2s

Wonga Park's northern boundary is the Yarra, and the land along it is part of Warrandyte State Park. Two of its councils have an overlay called SLO2, and they are different rules.

Manningham's SLO2, the river corridor: A permit to remove or lop any vegetation, except a non-native plant under 6 m tall, under 35 cm around at 1.4 m and under 4 m across. Light pruning of dead or small branches is exempt, up to a third of the foliage. A new fence within 30 m of the riverbank needs a permit unless it is low post and rail or post and wire.
Yarra Ranges' SLO2, the open valley: At 21 of the 28 points on Yarra Ranges' side. Native vegetation and trees over 1.1 m around need a permit; 4 m from a building is exempt, and so is young regrowth on cleared land.

Manningham's erosion overlay, at 11 points, mostly in the state park, lists no exemptions of its own, so the parent clause's permit for any vegetation applies. The flood overlay came up at 31 points across both councils.

Checked 23 October 2026 against Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.03 (SLO2), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 2 to Clause 42.03 (SLO2), Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 44.01 (EMO), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Clause 44.01 (Erosion Management Overlay), Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 44.04 (Land Subject to Inundation Overlay) and Wikipedia: Wonga Park, Victoria.

Grazing runs, orchards and windbreaks

The name comes from the Wonga Park grazing property, which was named for Simon Wonga, a Wurundjeri elder. One of the old runs, Yarra Brae, hosted Pan Pacific Scout Jamborees in 1948 and 1955 and is a Scouts campsite now.

Manningham's Vegetation Protection Overlay VPO5 protects particular trees and gardens named in a 2006 significance study, which ties many of them to the area's orcharding history. It asks for pine and cypress windbreaks to be kept whole. Several Wonga Park heritage places have tree controls too, nearly all on private land. If your block carries VPO5 or a Heritage Overlay, the property report names it, and the council can say which trees it means.

Checked 23 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Wonga Park, Victoria, Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule 5 to Clause 42.02 (VPO5) and Manningham Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay).

The Maroondah and Yarra Ranges edges

Three points fell in Maroondah, all General Residential with no overlay. On those streets the state's canopy-tree rule is the one to check: a tree at least 5 m tall with a canopy 4 m across needs a permit if its trunk is within 6 m of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 m of the rear boundary. Two Yarra Ranges points were Neighbourhood Residential under SLO23, the 80 cm rule of Chirnside Park next door.

Checked 23 October 2026 against Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.37 (canopy trees), Maroondah City Council: tree and native vegetation removal and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule 23 to Clause 42.03 (SLO23).

The rule next door

Warrandyte: Manningham as well. Its overlays need checking address by address.
Chirnside Park: Yarra Ranges: SLO23 in the streets, SLO2 and SLO6 in the green wedge.
Croydon Hills and Croydon North: Maroondah, with its own landscape and vegetation overlays.

Your property report names the council as well as the overlays. Manningham's planning department is the one to ask for most of Wonga Park.

Checked 23 October 2026 against Manningham City Council: canopy trees on residential land, Maroondah City Council: tree and native vegetation removal and Yarra Ranges Council: removing a tree on private land.

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