A large vacant block in a growing outer metropolitan Adelaide suburb is ripe for development, but there is one deep-rooted problem standing in its way – trees.
The 1.25ha Gawler East property at 70-72 Lyndoch Rd has many large trees on it, some of which may not be able to be removed.
Selling agent Oliver Grivell, of CBRE, said an arborist report showed a lot of them may need to be retained under planning rules unless the new owner obtained development approval to remove them.
There had been a lot of interest in the property, he said, with many keen to develop the site but that quickly changed when prospective buyers learned of the trees.
“There were a number of groups who did pull back their interest, that has restricted it quite significantly” said Mr Grivell, who is selling the property with Ned Looker.
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The Gawler East property at 70-72 Lyndoch Rd is vacant except for some trees.
Some of those trees may not be able to be removed though.
“It can be an issue with more regional areas.”
While restricting, Mr Grivell said there was “scope for some development” on the property.
It wasn’t the only site across the state where trees were proving to stall potential development.
Master Builders Association of South Australia chief executive Will Frogley said changes to laws in 2024 were delaying development and creating a “log jam” during a period when more homes were “desperately need”.
“Master Builders SA agrees trees are important for cooling the urban environment and providing atmospheric and health benefits,” he said.
“However, builders regularly report that the issues they have in relation to trees on development sites have ballooned since laws changed in May 2024.
“Applications are taking a lot longer to go through a planning assessment and costing much more as a result.”
Development approval is needed to legally remove a regulated or significant tree in SA.
A tree is considered regulated if, when measured 1m above the ground, it has a single trunk with a circumference of 1m or more or if it has multiple trunks with a total circumference of 1m or more and an average circumference of 310mm or more.
Similarly, a tree is considered significant if, when measured 1m above the ground, it has a single trunk with a circumference of 2m or more, or if it has multiple trunks with a circumference of 2m or more and an average circumference of 625mm or more.
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The trees may prevent any major development on the site.
Master Builders Association of South Australia chief executive Will Frogley. Picture: Kelly Barnes.
“In most areas you must provide an arborist’s report for anything deemed to encroach a tree protection zone,” Mr Frogley said.
“Reducing the threshold from 2m to 1m for regulated status and reducing the separation from a house distance from 10m to 3m for distance exemption for most introduced species has included more than five times the number of trees in the categories of regulated or significant trees.
“Almost every second development application for new housing must now be accommodated with an expensive tree assessment report from an arborist to determine whether trees can be removed and even if retained, determine critical root zones (CRZ), tree protection zones (TPZ) and tree sensitive construction methods, where buildings are located within these TPZs.
“Councils are routinely asking applicants to provide these reports even for their own street trees.
“Reports are costing between $2000 and $5000 and construction is now more expensive to accommodate retained trees with sensitive construction methods – for example use of Air Spades, Hydrovacs, permeable pavement, root barriers and engagement or supervision by arborists.”
A State Government spokesperson said the protection of more urban trees and facilitating supply of new housing in our urban environments were not mutually exclusive.
“The government is committed to having Australia’s best practice for tree loss regulation and a targeted plan for tree planting, and the changes to urban tree protection laws support this commitment,” the spokesperson said.
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