RFS 10/50 clearing on the Central Coast - what you can actually cut.
Live at the bush interface anywhere from Kariong to Matcham and you have probably been told two contradictory things: that you can clear whatever you like within 50 metres of the house, and that Council will fine you for touching anything. Both are wrong. The 10/50 entitlement is real, it is narrower than people think, and it is mapped per address. Here is what it covers, how to prove you were entitled, and where it stops.
What 10/50 actually is
The NSW Rural Fire Service 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Code of Practice gives owners of a property inside the entitlement area, with a dwelling on it, two specific rights. Remove trees within 10 metres of an external wall of the dwelling. Clear underlying vegetation - shrubs, undergrowth, ground fuel, but not trees - within 50 metres. It is self-assessed: no application, no determination, no waiting.
Two things get misread constantly, and both of them get people into trouble rather than out of it. First, the distances are measured from the dwelling, not from the boundary. A tree on the back fence 30 metres from the house is not covered by the 10-metre tree rule, no matter how bushy the block is or how much it worries you. Second, the entitlement is mapped. Living on a bush block is not the test. The map is the test, and it answers per address, not per suburb.
The rest of the code carries conditions too - it is a code of practice, not a blank cheque, and clearing has to be carried out in accordance with it to be covered by it. That is worth reading before you assume the whole 50 metres is yours to flatten.
Check the map, on the day, and keep the receipt
Use the RFS 10/50 online tool with your exact address, on the day you intend to act, and save the result with the date on it. The entitlement area is mapped in relation to category 1 bush fire prone vegetation, it has been reviewed and narrowed since the scheme began in 2014, and the mapping changes. Your neighbour’s answer from three years ago is not your answer today.
Around the Central Coast the bush interface is genuinely everywhere: the Brisbane Water and Bouddi National Park edges, Strickland State Forest, the Wyrrabalong strip along the coast, and the ridgelines above Kariong, Somersby, Lisarow, Holgate and Matcham. Two houses in the same street can return different results, because it depends on the vegetation behind them, not the postcode.
Print or screenshot the tool’s response. That dated record is your evidence you were entitled, and it is the difference between a clearing that is defensible and a conversation with Council you will not enjoy. It costs you thirty seconds and we ask every 10/50 client for it before we start, because we are not putting our name on clearing that cannot be evidenced.
Where it overrides Council, and where it absolutely does not
Where the entitlement genuinely applies, clearing carried out in accordance with the 10/50 Code does not require council approval. That is the whole point of the scheme. You do not need a permit under Central Coast Council’s tree and vegetation controls for a tree within 10 metres of the dwelling on an entitled property, and that is a real, useful right for people living against the bush.
Where it does not apply, nothing is overridden and the ordinary rules bite in full. Trees above roughly 5m in height or 3m in canopy spread on private land are regulated. The exemption schedule still helps - declared weed species such as camphor laurel, privet and willow are exempt, trees close to an approved dwelling for fire safety are commonly exempt, and dead or clearly dangerous trees are exempt with an arborist’s assessment - but a healthy 18m blackbutt 25 metres from your house is regulated, and clearing it without a permit is unlawful removal with penalty units attached.
The genuinely dangerous zone is the assumption in between. People confirm they are inside the entitlement area, feel covered, then clear a tree well outside the 10-metre measurement and believe 10/50 carried it. It did not. The entitlement is not a property-wide licence - it is two measured zones on an entitled property. If the tree you are worried about sits outside them, the honest path is a permit, and we lodge those with an AQF Level 3 assessment attached. Allow 10 to 28 days. Our removal versus lopping page covers what Council will realistically approve.
10/50 is not an APZ
Confusing these two costs people money on Coast bush blocks every year. 10/50 is a self-assessed entitlement for an existing dwelling. An Asset Protection Zone is a planning requirement for development on bush fire prone land, assessed under Planning for Bush Fire Protection and delivered through your development consent. The APZ width comes off the vegetation type, the slope and the Bushfire Attack Level assessment - the same BAL rating that drives your AS 3959 construction requirements for the build itself.
An APZ is typically far wider than 10 metres, it is a condition of consent rather than an entitlement, and it must be maintained for the life of the building. If you are building or extending on a bush block at Kariong, Somersby, Matcham or Holgate, the APZ governs your clearing and the tree work should be scoped straight off the bushfire report, not off the online tool. It also has to be reconciled with any trees the consent requires you to retain and protect, which is where AS 4970 tree protection comes in - we regularly work both sides of that on the same site, clearing the APZ while fencing the protection zone of a retained tree ten metres away. Our land clearing and mulching page covers the machinery side.
What we clear, and what we tell you to leave
The thing worth understanding about hazard reduction is that ladder fuels matter more than canopy. A fire moving through undergrowth stays a ground fire until something carries it up: a shrub layer touching low branches, a dead limb hanging at three metres, bark ribbons on a stringybark. Take the ladder out and you have done most of the useful work without losing your trees.
So on a lot of Coast bush blocks the best value is not removal at all. It is clearing the understorey, lifting the canopy 3 to 4 metres, pulling out the deadwood, and getting the bark ribbons and litter away from the walls. That keeps the shade, the habitat and the block’s character, and it removes the mechanism. We will tell you that even when the bigger job was the one you rang about. Timing it right matters too, and the species pruning calendar has the windows for the local canopy.
2026 costs and a worked example
Ex-GST. Tree removal within the 10-metre zone: $1,400 to $3,800 per mature tree with reasonable access, $4,500 to $7,000 over a roof or in tight rear access needing a climb-and-lower. Understorey and ground-fuel clearing in the 50-metre zone, mulched on site: $2,500 to $6,000 per hectare depending on density, slope and how long it has been let go. Canopy lift and deadwood across a bush-block perimeter to break the ladder fuels: $600 to $1,500 per tree.
Worked example, a genuinely typical Somersby job. Acre block backing onto bush, dwelling confirmed inside the entitlement area on the tool that morning and screenshotted. Two blackbutts within the 10-metre measurement from the rear wall, both removed under 10/50 with no permit and no wait: $4,900 the pair. Understorey cleared and mulched across roughly 0.4ha of the 50-metre zone: $2,100. Canopy lift and deadwood on the six perimeter trees outside the 10-metre zone - pruning only, which does not need a removal permit: $5,400. Stumps ground to 300mm on the two removals: $700. Total $13,100, done across three days, with the dated 10/50 record and our assessment on file.
One last thing on mulch. Mulching on site is usually cheaper than carting green waste off an acreage block and it leaves you a useful product. Do not spread it deep against the house. Deep mulch beds against a wall in the inner zone are just relocated fuel, and that undoes the reason you cleared.
FAQs - what 10/50 covers, the map, permits, APZs, cost
What does 10/50 let me clear?
On an entitled property with a dwelling: trees within 10 metres of an external wall, and underlying vegetation - shrubs, undergrowth, ground fuel, not trees - within 50 metres. Self-assessed, no application. The distances are measured from the dwelling, not the boundary, and the entitlement is mapped, so being on a bushy block is not the test.
How do I know if my property is in the entitlement area?
Check the RFS 10/50 online tool with your exact address on the day, and save the dated result. The area is mapped against category 1 bush fire prone vegetation, it has been reviewed and narrowed since 2014, and it changes. Two houses in the same street can get different answers. That screenshot is your evidence if the clearing is ever questioned.
Does 10/50 override Council tree permits?
Where the entitlement genuinely applies, yes - clearing in accordance with the Code does not require council approval. Where it does not apply, nothing is overridden: trees above roughly 5m height or 3m canopy spread are regulated and clearing without a permit is unlawful removal. The trap is clearing a tree 25 metres out and assuming 10/50 covered it. It does not.
Is 10/50 the same as an Asset Protection Zone?
No. 10/50 is a self-assessed entitlement for an existing dwelling. An APZ is a planning requirement for development on bush fire prone land under Planning for Bush Fire Protection, with the width set by vegetation, slope and the BAL assessment that also drives AS 3959 construction. An APZ is usually much wider, is a condition of consent, and must be maintained for the life of the building.
What does hazard-reduction clearing cost in 2026?
Tree removal in the 10-metre zone $1,400 to $3,800 with good access, $4,500 to $7,000 tight or over a roof. Understorey and ground fuel in the 50-metre zone, mulched on site, $2,500 to $6,000 per hectare. Canopy lift and deadwood to break ladder fuels $600 to $1,500 per tree. Mulching on site beats carting off on acreage - just never spread it deep against the house.
Bush block? Check the tool, then send us the screenshot and the address.
We will walk the property, measure the actual 10 and 50 metre zones from the dwelling rather than guess them, tell you what is entitled and what needs a permit, and quote the ladder-fuel work that usually does more for you than the removal you rang about. Where a permit is needed we lodge it with the assessment. AQF Level 3 arborists, fully insured, working the bush interface from Kariong and Somersby through Matcham and Holgate to the Bouddi and Wyrrabalong edges.