Step 1
Desktop constraints check
We look your lot up on DWER’s Clearing Permit System map, read the mapped vegetation and constraints, and tell you in writing which door to try first.
From $450 · fixed
Gidgegannup · clearing permits
Clearing permits for rural blocks, Mundaring to York.
Clear first and ask later is the expensive order. DWER decides whether you need a permit — we find out what it will ask, starting with a $450 desktop check.
Botanists and permit writers based in Gidgegannup since 2015 · 312 blocks checked across seven local governments · Consultant ref. EC-0000
$450fixed first step
3steps, each priced
5working days to a written answer
Services
Three steps, each priced before you start.
Most house sites, shed pads, fence lines and access tracks go through the same three steps. You can stop after any of them.
Step 2
Flora and vegetation survey
A botanist walks the clearing area on transects, records species and vegetation condition, and maps it to your block.
From $2,200 + $190–$380/ha
Step 2 add-on
Targeted flora search
A closer search we add when the clearing is inside, or might be inside, a declared environmentally sensitive area.
+$1,100 · comes off if the check rules it out
Step 3
Permit or referral preparation
The application or referral written up with the survey, maps and a plain description of the clearing, ready for you to lodge.
$1,650 · fixed
All three
Full package
Desktop check, survey and preparation for one clearing area. Two hectares of paddock trees outside an ESA comes to $4,680.
From $4,320
After clearing
Revegetation plan
A species list, planting layout and planting season for the parts of the block you want to put back.
From $1,200
The estimate
Move the area, pick what’s growing there, and say whether you’re in an environmentally sensitive area. Every step is priced separately.
Your clearing, in three steps
Estimate
Clearing area, to scaleSurvey transects (indicative)Declared ESA
All three steps$450 + $2,580 + $1,650 = $4,680, rounded once to $10
$4,680
Not sure is priced as yes. The desktop check looks your lot up on DWER’s Clearing Permit System map; if it’s outside an ESA, the $1,100 comes off.
Step 1
Desktop check
$450
And we stop there if it says a referral or an exemption is the door to try first.
Step 2
Flora survey
$2,580
- Base$2,200
- 2.0 ha × $190$380
- ESA search$0
Step 3
Permit or referral
$1,650
Prepared for DWER’s assessment. Any fee DWER charges is paid to DWER.
Or stop at step 1: $450, $4,230 less than all three, if the desktop check says a referral or an exemption comes first.
A desktop check is not a survey. If a permit application is the right door, it can’t stand in for one.
DWER’s own words: You need a permit to clear native vegetation unless you either have an exemption or we determined you did not need one during the clearing referral process.
— wa.gov.au
How it works
Cheapest question first. Survey only when it’s needed.
01
A written answer in five working days
The desktop check reads your lot against DWER’s mapping and tells you which door to try: a referral, an exemption worth confirming, or a permit application.
02
Surveyed when the plants show
Many Hills plants are easiest to identify in flower. We’ll tell you if waiting for spring gives a better survey, and book you sooner if it doesn’t.
03
Written for the person who assesses it
Maps, species lists and a plain description of what you want to clear and why, prepared for you to lodge as the landowner.
04
We don’t sell the next step
Every step has its own price and its own stopping point. If the check says stop, the bill is $450 and the advice is in writing.
The decision is DWER’s, not ours.
The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation assesses clearing permit applications. We can’t grant, waive or speed up a permit, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
“The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is the primary regulator that administers the clearing provisions of the EP Act.”
“Note that some exemptions do not apply within declared environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs).”
“…even if clearing is exempt under the EP Act, other state or federal legislative requirements may still apply”
Quoted from DWER’s native vegetation clearing permits page on wa.gov.au.
Landowners and contractors
What people say after the first phone call.
I rang about a shed pad expecting a big quote. The desktop check said to start with a referral, gave me the maps to go with it, and that was the whole bill. Four hundred and fifty dollars.
A new boundary fence line through bush in Bindoon. They walked it in September, gave me a map I could actually read, and the price for each step matched what the website said.
We had a grader booked for an access track near Bullsbrook. They told us on day one they couldn’t hurry DWER, then made sure nothing on our side was the hold-up.
Reviews are demonstration copy for a fictional business.
Service area
Seven local governments from the Hills to the Avon Valley.
Based in Gidgegannup, so most blocks are under an hour away. The desktop check works anywhere in WA; the survey is walked by us inside these areas.
- City of SwanGidgegannup (our base), Bullsbrook, Upper Swan, Brigadoon
- Shire of MundaringChidlow, Mount Helena, Mundaring, Wooroloo, Sawyers Valley
- Shire of ChitteringBindoon, Muchea, Lower Chittering
- Shire of ToodyayToodyay, Morangup, Julimar
- Shire of NorthamNortham, Wundowie, Bakers Hill
- Shire of YorkYork, Greenhills, Mount Hardey
- Shire of Serpentine JarrahdaleJarrahdale, Serpentine, Keysbrook
Questions we get asked
Before you ring, or before you clear.
Who decides whether I need a clearing permit?
DWER — the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Its page describes it as the primary regulator that administers the clearing provisions of the EP Act
. Not us, and not a contractor with a dozer.
We prepare the evidence and the paperwork. The decision is DWER’s, and we can’t grant, waive or speed one up.
What is a referral?
It’s the route for asking DWER whether your clearing needs a permit at all. DWER’s page says you need a permit unless you either have an exemption or we determined you did not need one during the clearing referral process
.
The desktop check tells you whether a referral is the sensible first door for your block. If it is, we stop there and you pay $450.
What’s an environmentally sensitive area?
A declared area where, in DWER’s words, some exemptions do not apply
. Whether your lot is in one is looked up on DWER’s Clearing Permit System map, and Landgate sells a property interest report that shows it too.
If you’re not sure, choose “Not sure” in the estimate. We price the targeted search in, and take the $1,100 off if the check finds your clearing is outside one.
What does a flora survey involve?
A botanist walks the clearing area along set lines, records the plant species and the condition of the vegetation, and maps both to your block. You get a report with maps, species lists and photos of what’s there.
Degraded ground and paddock trees are quicker to survey than intact bush, which is why the per-hectare rate is $190 against $380.
When should I book the survey?
Book the desktop check whenever you like. For the survey, many plants are easiest to identify when they’re flowering, so we’ll tell you at the desktop check if spring would give a better survey for your block — and if it wouldn’t, we’ll book you in sooner.
Can I clear a firebreak without a permit?
Ring your shire first. We don’t publish firebreak rules on this page, and we won’t guess one for your lot. If you’re planning to clear more than a firebreak, the $450 desktop check covers the rest.
Book or ask
Start with the $450 desktop check.
Tell us where the block is and what you want to clear. We ring back within one working day to confirm the lot details and book it.
- Nothing to prepare. A locality and a rough area is enough; we find the lot.
- Written answer in five working days. Which door to try, and why.
- Contractor waiting? Say so below. We can’t hurry DWER, but we can make sure the paperwork isn’t the hold-up.
Or ring (08) 9000 0472, weekdays 7:30am–4:30pm.
Enquiry ready
Thanks. We’d ring you back within one working day.
This is a demonstration page for a fictional business, so nothing was sent and nothing left your browser. On a real build this would land in the consultancy’s CRM with the lot and estimate attached, and put a callback on the calendar.