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Golden Wreath Wattle

Acacia saligna · Fabaceae
8m
Mature height
6
Councils: no permit needed
0
Councils: exempt under a height limit
14
Councils: permit required
Golden Wreath Wattle (Acacia saligna) growing in Sydney
Golden Wreath Wattle · typical mature form

Do you need a permit?

Golden Wreath Wattle is exempt in some councils and protected in others, and several exemptions carry a height limit. Check the table below against the council for your address before assuming a permit is not needed.

How to identify it

Long narrow drooping blue green phyllodes rather than true leaves, and large bright golden ball flowers in spring. Usually a fast growing multi stemmed small tree with a weeping habit.

Where it grows in Sydney

Naturalised through coastal and bushland areas of the Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, Bayside and Randwick, often on disturbed ground and dune systems.

Common problems

  • Environmental weed outside Western Australia that invades dune and bushland systems
  • Very short lived, splitting and collapsing within twenty years
  • Suckers and self seeds prolifically
  • Shallow rooting with poor wind stability

What removal involves

Exempt in Northern Beaches, Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, Ryde, Hunters Hill and Canterbury-Bankstown. Soft timber and modest size make it quick work, though multi stemmed specimens and dense stands take longer than expected.

Council permit rules, council by council

Status below is for a tree on private land that has passed the council’s size threshold. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas, significant tree registers, biodiversity mapping and conditions of development consent override every exemption shown here.
Council
Status
What it means
Northern Beaches
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
Ku-ring-gai
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
Hornsby Shire
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
The Hills Shire
Confirm with Council
Council holds its species exemptions in a document rather than on its website, so confirm this species with Council before treating removal as exempt. Size thresholds apply in the meantime. Official rules
Blacktown City
Permit required
Council does not run a species exemption list. A permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold, and each tree is assessed on its own merits. Official rules
North Sydney
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Willoughby
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Lane Cove
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
City of Ryde
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
Hunters Hill
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
City of Sydney
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Inner West
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Woollahra
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Waverley
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Randwick
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Bayside
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Georges River
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Strathfield
Permit required
Not on Council's exempt species list, so a tree permit is required once the tree passes the size threshold. Official rules
Burwood
Confirm with Council
Council holds its species exemptions in a document rather than on its website, so confirm this species with Council before treating removal as exempt. Size thresholds apply in the meantime. Official rules
Canterbury-Bankstown
No permit needed
On Council's exempt species list, so no permit is required for removal. Heritage items, heritage conservation areas and significant tree register listings still override the exemption. Official rules
It is a native Australian wattle. Why is it exempt?

It is native to Western Australia, not to NSW. In Sydney it behaves as an environmental weed in dune and bushland systems, which is why councils list it as exempt.

Commonly confused with

Cootamundra Wattle
Cootamundra has fine silver blue feathery foliage, Golden Wreath has long drooping single phyllodes

Related species

Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana) growing in Sydney
Cootamundra Wattle
Acacia baileyana
African Olive (Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata) growing in Sydney
African Olive
Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata
Athel Tree (Tamarix aphylla) growing in Sydney
Athel Tree
Tamarix aphylla
Bamboo (Bambusa and Phyllostachys species) growing in Sydney
Bamboo
Bambusa and Phyllostachys species

Important note on council rules

This encyclopedia is a practical guide for Sydney property owners, not legal advice. Council tree rules change, and exemptions are frequently overridden by heritage listings, heritage conservation areas, significant tree registers, biodiversity mapping, endangered ecological communities and conditions attached to development consent. Always confirm the current rules with your council for your specific address before any tree work begins, or ask us to check it for you.
Photo by SAplants via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Quick facts

Botanical name
Acacia saligna
Also known as
Orange Wattle, Western Australian Golden Wattle
Family
Fabaceae
Origin
Native to Western Australia, invasive in NSW
Mature height
4m to 8m
Canopy spread
4m to 7m
Growth rate
Very fast
Foliage
Evergreen, long narrow drooping phyllodes
Typical lifespan
15 to 25 years
Root habit
Shallow and suckering
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Most councils will not accept a removal application without species identification, photographs and a stated reason. We prepare and lodge the lot, then carry out the work once it is approved. One call, one invoice, no forms to work out yourself.
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