We’ve been contacted by residents who are outraged by what has happened next door to them and council’s failure to stop the continuing carnage of our canopy trees.

Here’s what we have learnt:

  1. The property at 25 Fitzgibbon Crescent, Caulfield North was sold on the 3rd May 2026 with price undisclosed.
  2. In less than a week, three trees were gone according to residents, and one huge front tree lopped mercilessly. Whether it will also be fully removed remains to be seen.
  3. In March 2026, an application to remove one canopy tree was recorded in council’s planning register. No decision (ie permit or refusal) has yet been made according to the register. There was nothing about lopping a canopy tree, so this was done prior to any formal council decision.

The images below show the property from Street View, as well as Google Earth prior to the tree removals. We also include a photo of the current state of the front yard.

Once again we have to question council’s intentions here. Will the owner be fined for the destruction? does council keep any records to indicate what was there prior to any development application coming in? What happens if a planning application comes in a year down the track? Is it reasonable to expect council to have made a decision well before two months have gone by? Were neighbours informed as to the tree removal application? If not, why not? Perhaps if they were, then such damage might have been averted?

PS: For a detailed explanation of what the government’s latest amendments mean for protecting tree canopy, we recommend a read of the following from Stephen Rowley – a long time analyst of what’s wrong with the planning system and government changes.

See: https://www.sterow.com/?p=5734#more-5734