Built at once, planted at once
Corrimal is a post-war suburb in the proper sense: laid out and built through the 1950s and 60s on the flat between the escarpment and the beach, with regular blocks, wide streets and a house on each. The planting happened at the same time as the building, which is why the tree problems arrive together.
Sixty or seventy years on, whole streets have the same trees at the same size — camphor laurels, jacarandas, liquidambars and eucalypts that were reasonable choices for a new block and are now full-size trees over a tin roof.
Flat ground is worth money
The practical difference between Corrimal and Figtree is that here a machine can usually get to the tree. A chipper parks on the kerb or in the driveway, a narrow-access grinder goes down the side, and timber is barrowed rather than carried up steps. That removes hours of labour from an identical job.
Where it goes wrong is what has been added since. A carport built across what used to be the driveway to the back yard, a pool put in on the side access, a full-height colorbond fence with a single 800-millimetre pedestrian gate. Check what a machine would have to fit through before you assume the easy price — the cost guide explains how much that changes things.
The trees doing the damage
Camphor laurel is the problem child here as it is everywhere in the Illawarra. It grows fast, seeds into everything, shades out whatever is beneath it and sends roots into drains. It is a declared priority weed in the region, it is comprehensively established along Corrimal Creek, and on a suburban block it is almost always a removal rather than a pruning job.
Liquidambar is the other one. Planted everywhere in the 1960s, now large, shallow-rooted, and dropping spiky fruit into gutters and onto paths. They reduce reasonably well but they also lift paving and slabs.
The eucalypts — mostly blackbutt and Sydney blue gum that seeded in from the escarpment, plus planted spotted gum — are the ones that matter for safety. Deadwooding a mature gum is the cheapest useful pruning you can buy.
The mountain behind
Mount Pleasant and the escarpment face sit immediately west of the suburb, and the western streets run up against the bush interface. That brings bushfire-prone mapping into play for some addresses and not others, and it means the upper streets have escarpment species — taller, heavier, and on ground that starts to slope.
Corrimal Creek runs through the suburb to the beach and carries council reserve, revegetation planting and creek-line vegetation along its length. Boundaries there are worth establishing before anyone starts cutting.
Council
Corrimal is Wollongong City Council, the same controls as the rest of the city area. Street trees on the verge belong to council. See the council approval guide for the permit process, and the service areas page for neighbouring suburbs including Thirroul.
Free quotes across Corrimal, Woonona, Bulli and Fairy Meadow — ring (02) 4210 5885.
Frequently asked questions
Is access in Corrimal easier than the escarpment suburbs?
Generally yes, and it is the main thing working in your favour. Post-war Corrimal blocks are flat, rectangular and wide enough that a chipper can park close and a stump grinder gets down the side. Where it fails is usually a later addition — a carport across the driveway, a pool, or a full-height fence with no gate wide enough for a machine.
What is the most common Corrimal tree job?
Reducing or removing a mature backyard tree that has outgrown a suburban lot. Whole streets were built and planted at the same time in the 1950s and 60s, so the trees reach the problem size together. Limbs over the roof, leaf load in the gutters and shading of the whole yard are the usual triggers, and reduction is more often the answer than removal.
Are the trees along Corrimal Creek protected?
Vegetation on and along the creek corridor is generally on council land or covered by council controls, and the boundary is often less obvious than the fence line suggests. Anything on the reserve side is not yours to cut. Properties backing onto the corridor should have the address checked before booking any removal on that side.