Past Project Examples

A two-year project in Healesville was one of the most complex single-dwelling jobs we have handled. The site sat in a Green Wedge Zone with a Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO), a native vegetation trigger under Clause 52.17, and 500 trees across heavily forested land. The client's goal was to keep as many trees as possible.

Our certified arborists worked alongside a dedicated consultant team to find a house location and design that met bushfire siting requirements, respected natural drainage, and kept tree and vegetation loss to a minimum. The solution was a double-storey footprint to reduce ground coverage, road-adjacent siting to maximise defendable space, and careful placement of the effluent field.

After working through complex, overlapping requirements, the planning permit was secured; a clear example of balancing bushfire safety, tree protection, and environmental values on a constrained site.

Residential and tourism developments in coastal and peri-urban areas often need integrated assessments across all three of our core disciplines — arboriculture, bushfire and native vegetation — within a single planning permit application.

On a recent project in Fingal, we delivered an Arboricultural Impact Assessment, a Bushfire Management Statement (BMS), and a Native Vegetation Impact Assessment (NVIA) for a coastal development of a main residence with three accommodation dwellings. Coastal sites carry particular environmental planning sensitivities, and delivering all three assessments through one coordinated team kept the advice consistent and efficient.

Over several years, we worked with the City of Melbourne, the Melbourne & Olympic Parks Trust, and the Victorian Department of Justice on cycling corridors and hostile vehicle mitigation infrastructure around Melbourne. Our role spanned design and delivery, developing tree-sensitive solutions that balanced the protection of significant street trees against complex, high-security urban infrastructure requirements.

Where proposed alignments conflicted with significant trees, we identified practical design variations that resolved the conflict without compromising the corridor. We then supervised construction to ensure our recommendations were carried through on the ground.

We have worked on several shared trail developments throughout Victoria. One example is a multi-year, multi-stage upgrade involving native tree surveys along 42 km, with a broad stakeholder group including local councils, state government, V/Line, engineers, ecologists, and contractors.

Our role spanned the full project lifecycle, from reviewing engineering drawings and providing arboricultural recommendations at the design stage, through to on-site construction supervision. Where the trail alignment conflicted with protected trees, we identified alternatives such as micro-siting and modified construction methods to minimise removal. The project achieved a successful permit approval, in line with council protocols and Australian Standards.

This civil infrastructure upgrade involved assessing native vegetation and trees along 45 km of water main and fire hydrant works, adjacent to nationally listed and protected vegetation. We identified vegetation impacts, recommended tree protection measures and proposed construction design amendments to minimise disturbance while allowing works to proceed, then supervised construction to ensure those measures were correctly implemented and permit conditions satisfied.

The project required close collaboration with a diverse stakeholder group, including the Department of Defence, Barpa Construction Services, and the contractor, coordinating competing priorities to deliver a successful outcome for both the infrastructure program and the environment.

This redevelopment delivered a significant coastal construction project immediately adjacent to state-significant coastal vegetation. Working closely with council and architects, we completed an Arboricultural Impact Assessment, annotated engineering drawings, and developed design recommendations to protect the surrounding vegetation.

The most complex element was bulk excavation near coastal dunes, where conventional methods posed an unacceptable risk to dune stability. We recommended sheet-piling as an alternative, ensuring safe excavation. We then supervised construction to ensure the surrounding coastal environment was left intact.

We have gained planning permit approval for several mixed-use multi-storey developments, including projects involving heritage-protected trees. On a project in greater Melbourne, early engagement allowed us to identify and assess the heritage trees before the design was finalised, so their locations and protection requirements shaped the outcome rather than complicating it. The Arboricultural Impact Assessment that followed supported a planning submission that achieved council approval with the heritage trees protected in place.

During the construction of a multi-storey development, contractors installed a crossover between two protected council trees without following the approved Tree Protection Specifications, causing root damage and a formal non-compliance.

We managed the rectification by working with council’s Open Space Planning team, the developer, and the building contractor to assess the damage and find a way forward. We arranged hydro-excavation to expose and assess the affected roots, prescribed interim access approval so construction could continue where possible, and prepared reinstatement specifications to support the trees’ long-term recovery. The outcome was a fully rectified non-compliance, a restored working relationship between all parties, and two protected trees given the best possible chance of long-term survival.