Land & block clearing in Pakenham & Cardinia.

Pakenham sits in one of Victoria’s fastest-developing corridors. New estates keep pushing out across Pakenham East and toward Officer, and plenty of owners on the rural-residential fringe near Pakenham Upper, Tynong, Maryknoll and Cardinia want to open up a treed or scrubby block, for a new build, a shed, a paddock, a firebreak or simply to reclaim usable land. That is land clearing, and in Victoria it is heavily regulated, so it pays to do it right.

We clear blocks of every size, from a suburban lot choked with self-sown regrowth through to several acres of mixed bush. We remove the trees, grub out or grind the stumps where you need a clean surface, chip the smaller material, and either spread it as mulch or cart it away. The result is a level, workable site ready for the next stage.

Native vegetation and permits come first.

This is the part most people get wrong. Clearing native trees and understorey in Victoria is controlled by the statewide native-vegetation framework as well as your Cardinia Shire planning overlays. A block toward the Bunyip State Park edge or in the hills can carry a Vegetation Protection, Environmental Significance or Significant Landscape Overlay, and clearing regulated native vegetation without a planning permit can attract serious penalties. Before a single tree comes down we assess your block, identify what is regulated versus what is exempt, and lodge any Cardinia Shire planning permit that is required. Full background on the Pakenham tree permit guide.

Bushfire clearing is a legitimate reason.

If your property is in a Bushfire Prone Area, much of the Cardinia hills and rural fringe is, you have clearing rights under the 10/30 and 10/50 rules to reduce fuel around your home and along boundaries without a planning permit. We do a lot of this defensible-space work each season and apply the rules correctly so you are protected and compliant.

What clearing costs in Pakenham (2026).

A worked example. A half-acre Pakenham Upper block had a dense band of wattle regrowth, three semi-mature gums and a long line of blackberry along the rear fence the owner wanted gone before building a shed. We removed the gums by sectional take-down (powered line down one side), mulched the wattle and blackberry in place, and ground the three stumps. Two days on site, mulch left spread, came to $7,800, plus the permit we lodged for the two regulated gums. Indicative ranges:

• Light scrub / regrowth, suburban block: $1,500 to $4,000
• Treed quarter-acre with stumps: $6,000 to $15,000
• Rural acreage: priced after a site visit
• Permit lodgement (if required): quoted separately

For single trees rather than a whole block, see tree removal; to finish a cleared area cleanly, see stump grinding.