What happens to the trees on the
block in a knockdown rebuild?

Part of a bigger picture: the whole knockdown rebuild path, step by step.

Which trees are protected?

Council's local law names four categories, and two of them sit on private land.

• Council vegetation. Street trees, park trees, vegetation in natural areas. The tree on the verge in front of your house is council's, not yours.
• Waterway and wetland vegetation. Along the creeks and the foreshore, fresh or salt, natural or man-made. Lota Creek, the Wynnum creeks and the mangrove edges all count.
• Significant urban vegetation. Council's words: native and exotic vegetation on private property that is mature and/or prominent in the landscape. The big fig, the old camphor laurel, the gum everyone can see from the street.
• Significant native vegetation. All native vegetation on properties in council's mapping, from ground covers to large trees.

Council also lets residents nominate a tree or a group of trees for a vegetation protection order. Old Bayside streets have a few.

“Penalties apply if you interfere with protected vegetation without a permit.” A property may have protections if it is near or in a waterway corridor, in a bushland area, contains large significant trees even in an urban area, or has heritage values.

Brisbane City Council, Protected vegetation (Natural Assets Local Law 2003). It's the owner's job to know, and the map is free.

How do you check your block?

Two ways, both from council.

1. Open council's community maps (the land and environmental map) and look up your address. The protected vegetation layers show on the lot.
2. Make a protected vegetation enquiry about your property. Council sends back a map of protected vegetation on the lot and a report as a PDF.

Do the second one. The report is what a designer and a certifier want to see, and it's what you'd need to apply for a permit anyway.

What if a protected tree is where the house goes?

Then you apply to council for a permit, and the design might change first.

Council's guidance is to talk to them about your plans before lodging a development application, and to apply for the vegetation permit after the DA is finalised. In practice that means the tree is part of the design conversation from the start, not a surprise at demolition. A permit isn't automatic. Council can refuse, or condition it, or ask for the design to move.

There's also the City Plan side: a lot under the significant landscape tree overlay is code assessable, which means a new house needs a development application. That post explains the two approvals.

What about the trees that aren't protected?

Most trees on most suburban blocks aren't in any of the four categories, and those are yours to keep or remove. Check the report before you assume, and check the verge: the street tree is council's even when it's your problem.

Removal before demolition is a job for an arborist or the demolition contractor, and the stumps and roots come out before anyone digs footings.

What does a builder do with a kept tree?

Designs around it, then protects it.

A big tree decides where the house can sit, where the driveway goes, and what the footings near it have to do. Roots don't stop at the drip line. The arborist's advice about the protection zone becomes part of the site plan, the tree gets fenced before the excavator arrives, and nothing is stored or parked under it for the length of the job.

It's more work. It's also usually why the block was worth staying on.

Common questions

Sources: Brisbane City Council, Protected vegetation and Protected vegetation permits (Natural Assets Local Law 2003); Brisbane City Plan 2014, Significant landscape tree overlay. Read 17 September 2026. Council's mapping is updated from time to time; get the current report for your lot. This is a plain-English guide, not legal or arboricultural advice.