Tree Removal Narara NSW

Chapter 5.8Council’s location-specific rules for the Research Road site
Red cedarA tree that chapter says to consider keeping
3 sidesStrickland State Forest borders the Narara Ecovillage on three sides
14 July 2025Date council’s community land plan of management came into force

One Narara Site Has Its Own Tree Rules

Central Coast Council’s Development Control Plan 2022 has a chapter just for the former Gosford Horticultural Institute site at Research Road, Narara, now the Narara Ecovillage. Chapter 5.8 sets controls for developing that land that go beyond the general tree chapter. They include prioritising the retention of koala feed trees, giving consideration to retaining any red cedars (Toona ciliata), and designing any layout so it doesn’t remove actual yellow-bellied glider sap trees. It also says bushfire asset protection zones are to be measured from the edge of remnant native vegetation.

Those controls are about developing that site, not about trees on other Narara streets. If you live or work on the Research Road land, ask the ecovillage’s management what applies to your tree, as well as council. The general exemptions for the rest of Narara are on our home page.

Gullies, Creeks And Bushland Around Narara

Ecovillage surveys

A 2017 flora and fauna survey for the ecovillage land found that boulder-strewn gullies on its Narrabeen slopes were likely lowland rainforest, an endangered ecological community, and identified a freshwater wetland community on the alluvial flats. Council’s exemptions don’t apply to endangered ecological communities. That survey covered that site, not your block.

State forest next door

Visit NSW describes the ecovillage as bordered on three sides by Strickland State Forest. A tree in a state forest isn’t yours to remove, even if it overhangs your boundary.

Council creek and bushland lots

Council’s community land plan of management lists Narara lots as natural area watercourse (including Reeves Street, Hanlan Street South, Elm Road, Narara Valley Drive and Eric Close), bushland (including Boulder Crescent, Nursery Street, Treeline Close and Mountain View Avenue) and wetland (Jirrang Road, Manns Road and Carrington Street). Contact council on 02 4306 7900 about a tree on any of them.

Land near a creek

Narara Creek and its tributaries run through the area. Land within 40 m of a creek bank has its own rules for removing vegetation, covered on our Erina page.

A red cedar is worth identifying before it’s cut. Council’s Narara chapter singles out red cedar for retention on the Research Road site, and the species was once plentiful on the river flats of the Gosford and Wyong area, according to a local landcare group, but few original trees remain. Our arborist page explains the evidence council asks for.

Arborist cutting a eucalyptus branch

Before You Book In Narara

  • Work out whose land the tree is on: yours, council’s, state forest, or the ecovillage’s.
  • If you’re on or beside Research Road, ask whether Chapter 5.8 and the ecovillage’s own rules apply.
  • Check how close the tree is to a creek bank. Within 40 m, check the waterfront land rules first.
  • Have the species identified, including any red cedar or rainforest tree in a gully.
  • If a storm has brought a tree down, start with our emergency tree removal page. For a bigger block, see land clearing.
  • Decide about the stump. Our stump grinding page covers the options.

Get your Narara tree looked at

Tell us where the tree is, whether it’s near a creek, gully or state forest, and what you’d like done. Photos help.

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