Booker Bay
Tree lopping in Booker Bay
Tree lopping, pruning and stump grinding in Booker Bay, where two Norfolk Island pine trees on the former Booker Bay cemetery site are heritage listed.
Tree work in Booker Bay
Listed pines on an old burial ground
Schedule 5 of the Central Coast Local Environmental Plan 2022 lists two Norfolk Island pine trees on the former Booker Bay cemetery site as local heritage item I9. Under the plan, moving or altering a heritage item takes development consent, with some exceptions, and none of the council's tree exemptions reach one. Pruning either pine is a matter for the council's heritage process before it is a tree job.
The pines were listed in place of the cemetery. In May 2017 the council turned down a proposal to list the old burial ground after residents objected, and chose the two trees instead, which its assessment called a distinctive and landmark feature of Booker Bay.
Services in Booker Bay
Rope work, shallow grinding and approvals
Tree removal
Trees on neighbouring blocks taken down in sections and lowered on ropes, with nothing dropped toward the pines.
Stump grinding
Kept shallow on land that was an early burial ground and resting place of early pioneers.
Tree removal permits
Which approval a tree here needs, from heritage consent for the listed pines to the council's ordinary rules.
How it works
From the first message to a written quote
The council question is settled before any price, and nothing is booked until you have said yes to a quote in writing.
- 1
Tell us what the tree is doing
Where it stands, what it is close to and what you would like done about it.
- 2
A contractor comes to see it
A tree contractor who covers your suburb looks at the tree, the access and what is underneath it.
- 3
The council question is answered
Height, trunk size, distance from the house and the species decide whether a permit or an exemption applies.
- 4
You get it in writing
Scope, timber, stump and date on one page, and nothing is booked until you have said yes.
Booker Bay questions
Old graves, shallow grinding and the listing
Could there be graves near the pines?
There could be. In 2017 the council's assessment found the site has local historic significance as an early burial ground and resting place of early pioneers, and scientific significance for its potential for research, though the site has shrunk and residential development affects it. Anything that would dig deeper than a shallow grind is held back for a heritage check.
What about other trees on the old cemetery ground?
They are checked against the listing before work starts, since they share that ground with the pines. The council's usual tree rules apply to them as well, and council permission may be required to prune or remove trees.
