Boronia facts worth knowing
Houses and townhouses
At the 2021 Census, 71.6% of occupied homes in the suburb of Boronia were separate houses and 24.8% townhouses, terraces or semis. 39.8% were owned with a mortgage and 28.1% rented.
Trees go through planning
Knox handles tree removal and pruning through planning permits. Clause 52.37 now applies in its residential zones, and Vegetation Protection, Significant Landscape and Environmental Significance overlays add controls of their own.
Runoff is a shared job
Knox calls stormwater a shared responsibility. Runoff from your block stays yours until it reaches your property's Approved Point of Discharge.
South East Water's sewer
South East Water's part of the sewer ends at the connection point with your property, called the inspection opening, which is often near the boundary.
Sewer blockages in Boronia
The inspection opening is the dividing line. Pipes upstream of it, towards the house, are yours; from there on they're South East Water's, and only South East Water and its approved contractors may repair them.
If the blockage is on its side, South East Water pays back fair and reasonable costs, provided your plumber referred it. Using a camera or a high-pressure jet, or cutting roots, on its side rules that out. So the order matters: find the blockage, then refer it.
Canopy trees and new pipes
Since Amendment VC289 on 15 September 2025, a canopy tree in Knox's residential zones is one over 5 metres tall, with a trunk more than 0.5 metres around at 1.4 metres and a canopy at least 4 metres across. On a lot with a house, removing or lopping one within 6 metres of the narrowest street frontage or 4.5 metres of the rear boundary needs a permit.
Knox suggests talking to it before construction works. If a new sewer or stormwater line has to pass close to a big tree, raise it with Council early, or ask whether relining the old pipe avoids the trench. Our tree roots page covers the plumbing side.
Other Boronia jobs
See blocked drains in Melbourne, leak detection or hot water.
What we would do
Find the blockage before anything is cut. On a sewer, that tells you whether it's your pipe or South East Water's; near a tree, it tells you whether a permit question is coming. Ask the drain specialist to raise both before quoting, and if the tree has to go, put the permit application in before the plumber's start date.