Melbourne councils call for reduced power line clearance to protect urban trees
The state government aims to have 30 per cent tree cover in urban areas by 2050.
But an expert advising the government on the issue accused the government of being timid and missing the opportunity to make a sensible change that would increase tree cover in the city.
The government has resisted calls by a committee it appointed to permanently reduce the minimum distance from one meter to 30 centimetres. The committee included utilities such as AusNet, Jemena and Powercor, Fire Rescue Victoria, the Victoria Municipal Association and landowners.
A tree in Coburg that has been heavily pruned to meet power line clearing regulations.
South Australia has reduced the minimum distance from one meter to 30 centimeters in low-risk areas.
But Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action does not want to pursue South Australia’s regulatory change without more evidence, despite the support of most committee members.
“[The department] It considers long-term changes to the Code to be unacceptable without convincing evidence that they have been reduced. [minimum clearance standard] the requirements are safe to implement in Victoria,” says the department’s regulatory impact statement for the trial.
“While reducing the standards to 300mm is not supported, DEECA supports reducing the standard in the future if there is evidence to justify the reduction.”
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Dr D., a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. Greg Moore was part of the state government’s power line clearance advisory committee until he resigned over Energy Safe Victoria’s timidity and refusal to consider climate change.
Moore said South Australia reduced its minimum clearance to power lines from one meter to 30 centimeters without causing any harm more than a decade ago, and Victoria could follow its lead rather than run a limited trial without a commitment to make the change permanent.
“I think Victoria has been extremely cautious about low voltage lines in areas where bushfire risk is low,” Moore said.
He said the proposed clearance reduction would “make a huge difference to streetscapes, save you literally hundreds of millions of dollars in pruning costs and give you a cooler urban environment.”
Moore said Energy Safe Victoria took a strict prescriptive approach to fire safety.
Between 2019 and 2024, an average of 47 fires broke out each year in Victoria due to trees coming into contact with power lines. The contact of the vegetation with the wires caused two cleaning workers to receive electric shocks. One worker died and another was seriously injured.
Moore argues Victoria’s current one-metre clearance puts workers in danger because it puts them closer to power lines.
“I think you’re putting people’s lives at risk by sending them into these situations when there’s no need to prune them,” he said.
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The council’s peak body, the Municipal Association of Victoria, said current regulations were excessive and came at a huge and unnecessary cost to communities and the environment.
“Councils and the communities they represent have long been frustrated with Victoria’s power line clearing regulations because they often result in excessive pruning and clearing of vegetation in urban areas and townships where bushfire risk is low,” association president Jennifer Anderson said.
A tree has been pruned around power lines in Sandringham.Credit: Penny Stephens
Municipalities face fines for not pruning trees in accordance with guidelines.
Macedon Ranges councilor Anderson said communities were losing the green canopy that cools streets and provides habitat for native fauna.
“Unfortunately, important trees of social and historical significance and native trees cannot survive excessive pruning to meet government line clearing requirements,” he said.
“As the state government seeks to make our towns and cities denser, and the effects of climate change make our streets hotter, we need to protect and enhance tree cover where there is no safety risk, not prune it.”
The City of Boroondara, the eastern suburbs council with one of Melbourne’s largest tree canopy covers, has strongly endorsed the change. He argued that a 30-centimeter clearance would help preserve $1 billion in tree value statewide, reduce costs for municipalities and taxpayers, and support community livability and climate adaptation.
Type your suburb in the interactive field below and click on the sketch to view canopy cover in your area
An Energy Safe Victoria spokesperson said the agency recognized the importance of public feedback in shaping policies that keep people safe and encouraged people to have their say about the proposed trial.
The agency did not elaborate on when and where the hearing might be held, how long it would last or what evidence would be sought before a permanent change in regulations would be considered.
“Our duty is to implement the regulations once they are finalized and come into force,” the spokesman said. “As the proposal is still in the consultation stage, it is too early to comment on any potential trials or applications.”
Fire Rescue Victoria declined to comment.
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