Norah Head
Tree lopping in Norah Head
Tree lopping, pruning and removal in Norah Head, for homes on an exposed headland and the bush that runs behind them.
Tree work in Norah Head
An endangered woodland on hard-setting sand
The low woodland with heathland on the headland is an endangered community, and the State Heritage Register listing for the lightstation says it is restricted to the local area around Norah Head. Its open tree cover is mainly red bloodwood, broad-leaved paperbark and Camfield's gum, and Camfield's gum is listed as vulnerable under Commonwealth and state law. Near the headland each tree is identified to species before any cut, because council's exemptions do not extend to a threatened species or an endangered community, and approval for a threatened species is not a council one.
The NSW Scientific Committee's determination places the community on indurated (hardsetting) sand, with drainage that varies from spot to spot. Ground like that tends to keep roots shallow and spreading and makes stump grinding slower than in loose dune sand, and a tree in a wet patch can be less firmly anchored than its neighbours.
Up on the cliff top, council said in 2016 that trees had been poisoned at Mazlin Reserve, whose vegetation gives shade and habitat, reduces salt laden winds and helps to stabilise the cliff area. Cliff-edge trees there are usually pruned lightly rather than removed, and any removal weighs how much root support the slope would lose.
Services in Norah Head
Wind-loaded crowns, sand and protected species
Tree pruning
Crowns thinned and weak limbs taken out of trees that take the afternoon wind off the sea.
Tree removal
Trees on the windward side lowered in short sections, so no piece is caught by a gust as it comes down.
Tree removal permits
Where a heritage listing or a threatened species takes a tree outside council's usual exemptions.
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.
Norah Head questions
Lightstation plantings, fire history and the afternoon wind
Can the trees in the lightstation grounds be pruned?
Not without heritage approval. The Norah Head Lightstation Precinct is on the State Heritage Register, and the formal grounds around its residences hold banksia, acacia, Norfolk Island pines and New Zealand Christmas bush, which are part of the listed item. A heritage item sits outside the DCP exemptions.
Does the bush on the headland burn?
Yes, several times. NPWS fire history records three wildfires named Norah Head: one in 1998-99 that burnt about 4 hectares, and two in 2006-07 of about 3 hectares and 0.36 hectares. On blocks that back onto that bush, tree work is planned around cutting fuel and keeping the canopy off the house, with the parcel's fire maps checked first.
What should replace a tree that comes out?
A species that can take the wind. The Bureau of Meteorology's Norah Head station recorded a mean 3pm wind speed of 24.6 km/h across the year from 1995 to 2010, peaking at 28.6 km/h in November. Steady wind like that, carrying salt off the sea, is hard on tall, top-heavy crowns, so a replacement is chosen for how it copes with exposure as well as for its size.
