The short version
Four local governments cover the suburbs on this site. City of Fremantle and Town of East Fremantle around the port and the older housing stock, City of Melville through the river suburbs, and City of Cockburn to the south. All four regulate trees, and none of them regulate them identically.
Rules, policies and registers change, and the council is the authority on its own area — not a contractor, not a neighbour, and not this page. What follows is a map of the questions to ask and who to ask them of. Where a specific answer depends on your address, the honest instruction is to ring the council and ask, and that is what you will see below rather than a made-up form number.
Street and verge trees are never yours
This is the rule with the fewest exceptions, so start here. A tree growing on the verge between your fence and the kerb sits on land the local government controls. It is council property, it is maintained on a council programme, and an adjoining owner has no standing to remove it, top it or have a contractor do either.
That holds in Fremantle, East Fremantle, Melville and Cockburn. Unauthorised removal or damage to a street tree can attract a penalty and a charge for replacement, and a mature street tree is not a cheap thing to replace.
What you can do is report it. If a verge tree is dropping limbs, has fungal brackets at the base, is lifting a footpath, is blocking a sightline at a crossover or is fouling a service line, ring the council, give the address and ask for an inspection. They send their own crews or issue their own approvals.
Significant and registered trees
Fremantle and East Fremantle both take an active interest in trees worth keeping, and a tree identified as significant carries conditions on what may be done to it. Size, age, species, habitat value, landmark value and association with a heritage place are the usual grounds.
You cannot tell from the footpath whether a particular tree is listed. The only reliable way is to ring the council with the street address and ask directly whether the tree is recorded, whether the property carries a heritage listing that brings the garden into scope, and what would be required to remove or prune it. Do not take a contractor's word for it either way, and do not rely on what a previous owner told you.
If the answer is that the tree is protected, the next step is usually a written assessment from a qualified arborist setting out condition, risk and options. That is a different document from a removal quote, and it is covered on the arborist reports page.
When a development application drags a tree into scope
This is the one that catches owners out most often. A tree that would be unremarkable on a settled block becomes a regulated tree the moment the lot is part of a planning application — a subdivision, a new dwelling, a second storey, a large outbuilding.
Planning approvals routinely carry conditions requiring named trees to be retained, protective fencing to a set radius during construction, root zones kept clear of excavation and stockpiling, or replacement planting at a specified ratio. Those conditions sit in the decision notice, they bind the owner and the builder, and breaching them is a planning matter rather than a gardening one.
Before you engage anybody, read the conditions attached to your approval. If a tree is named, ring the council's planning team and ask what is required to vary the condition, and expect to be asked for an arborist report. If you are buying a block with an existing approval, ask for the decision notice and read the tree conditions before settlement.
Dead, dying and dangerous trees
A tree that is genuinely unsafe is treated differently from one that is merely inconvenient, but two things are worth being clear about.
First, dead does not mean unregulated. A listed tree that has died is still a listed tree until the council says otherwise, and hollow standing timber has habitat value that some councils weigh explicitly. Ring them.
Second, evidence matters. If a tree has failed or is actively failing, make the property safe, and photograph the tree, the failure point, the lean and the ground around the base from several angles before a chainsaw touches it. Cracked or lifted soil on the windward side, bracket fungi at the collar, a fresh split in a union — those are the things an assessor will want to see and they disappear the moment the tree is on the ground. Then ring the council and tell them what happened.
Where something is already down across a driveway or on a roof, that is triage rather than a permit question, and it is covered on the storm and emergency page. If any part of the tree is on or near power lines, ring Western Power on 13 13 51 first and keep everyone clear.
Your neighbour's tree over your fence
At common law in Western Australia an owner may generally cut back branches and roots encroaching over the boundary, at their own cost, working from their own side without entering the neighbour's land, and offering the cuttings back. That is the general position and it is not a licence.
It does not let you cut into the neighbour's side of the boundary, it does not let you take a tree down, it does not override a council listing or a verge, and cutting so heavily that the tree dies or becomes unstable can make you liable for it. If the tree is protected, the encroachment right does not defeat the protection.
Practically: talk to the neighbour, get a quote you can both see, and have the work done properly on both sides at once. Where that conversation has already failed, a written arborist assessment gives you something factual to argue from instead of an argument about who is unreasonable.
Who to ring
Ring the local government for the property's address — City of Fremantle, Town of East Fremantle, City of Melville or City of Cockburn — give them the street address, and ask three things: is the tree on the verge or on my land, is it listed or otherwise protected, and does anything on my title or my planning approval affect it. That call is free and takes minutes. A removal you were not allowed to do is the most expensive outcome available.
Once the rules are settled, the removal page explains how the work is done on tight blocks, the cost guide sets out the 2026 ranges, and the service areas page lists the suburbs covered. If the tree may be savable, crown reduction and pruning is worth reading first. Ring 08 7741 1934.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need council approval to remove a tree on my own property in Fremantle?
Often not, but you cannot assume it. The City of Fremantle and the Town of East Fremantle both have policies protecting significant trees, and a tree that is listed, or that sits on a lot covered by a planning approval or a heritage listing, is not yours to remove freely. Ring the council with your street address before you book a crew.
Can I remove the street tree on the verge outside my house?
No. A verge or street tree belongs to the local government, not to the adjoining owner, in Fremantle, East Fremantle, Melville and Cockburn alike. Removing or heavily pruning one without written approval can attract a penalty and a replacement cost. If it is dropping limbs, blocking sightlines or lifting a footpath, report it and let the council assess it.
What is a significant tree and how do I know if mine is one?
It is a tree a council has identified as worth protecting for its size, age, species, habitat or heritage value, usually recorded on a register. Listing brings conditions on pruning and removal. You cannot tell by looking at it. Ring your council, give the street address, and ask whether the tree is listed or otherwise protected before anything is booked.
My neighbour's branches hang over my fence. Can I cut them?
At common law in Western Australia you can generally prune back to the boundary line at your own cost, without entering their property, and you should offer the cuttings back. That right does not override council rules, so if the tree is protected or on a verge, check first. A conversation and a shared quote usually beats a unilateral chainsaw.
What if the tree is dead or dangerous right now?
Making a tree safe in an emergency is treated differently from a planned removal, but the tree does not stop being regulated because it is dead. Get the property safe, photograph the tree and the failure from several angles before anything is cut, and ring the council as soon as practical. Retrospective explanation is far easier with evidence than without.
Does a development approval affect the trees on my block?
Frequently, and owners often do not know it. Planning approvals for subdivisions, new dwellings and additions regularly carry tree retention, protection-zone or replacement-planting conditions buried in the decision notice. Read the conditions on your approval before anyone quotes, and if a tree is named in them, an arborist report is usually what the council will want.