Services / Independent review and expert evidence
Independent expertise
An independent opinion that can be relied on.
Sometimes you need a second opinion on a tree report. Sometimes you need someone who will defend the finding at VCAT. We do both, and the finding reads the same, whoever instructs us. That is why Councils and applicants both come to us in contested matters.
Why it matters
Independence is central to the work
A review is worth something because it is not the original author's, and not the answer the instructing party was hoping for. We give the findings that the evidence supports, whoever is paying for it. That is what makes it useful to a Council weighing an application, to an owner who has been told a tree has to go, and to a Tribunal deciding who is right.
We act across both sides of this work. Councils instruct us to review what an applicant has lodged; applicants and owners instruct us for a second opinion on a report they think overreached. Working both sides is what keeps the opinion honest and is why the same evidence survives when questioned.
Our principal has appeared at VCAT more than 45 times since 2004, for Councils and for applicants, in the format the Tribunal expects. Evidence that began as an evidence-based assessment is the only kind that can be relied on under cross-examination.
How it works
From a second opinion to the witness box
Most matters start with a review and go no further. Some become disputes. A few are decided at the Tribunal. We can come in at any rung, and we carry the same opinion through each stage.
This sits at the contested end of our project lifecycle, where a permit is decided or challenged, but a review can be commissioned at any point.
Before it becomes a dispute
Independent review and second opinion
We review another arborist's report, a permit application, or a recommendation to remove, and say plainly whether it stands up and where it does not. For owners told a tree must go, and for Councils assessing what an applicant has submitted.
When two experts disagree
Dispute and determination support
Where a matter is heading to mediation, expert determination or a joint expert process, we set out the arboricultural position and contribute to the joint report. The aim is to narrow what is actually in dispute before anyone reaches a hearing.
When it is decided at the Tribunal
Expert evidence at VCAT
A full expert witness statement and appearance, in the format the Tribunal expects, defended under cross-examination. The evidence we file is the evidence we stand behind on the day, because it was an evidence-based assessment before it was ever a statement.
Why our work can be relied on
The same opinion throughout the process
An opinion is only worth instructing if it does not change when it is tested.
Genuinely independent
We act for Councils and for the applicants they assess. A finding is not coloured by who instructed it, which is exactly why both sides keep coming back.
One version
The opinion we give in a quiet review is the opinion we defend at the Tribunal. There is no soft version for the client and a different version for the hearing.
A record you can check
More than 45 VCAT appearances since 2004, on both sides, with the Tribunal preferring, accepting or relying on the evidence. See the record.
Related services
Often instructed alongside
Need a report reviewed, or evidence at VCAT?
Tell us about the report, the tree, or the matter. We will tell you whether it stands up and how we would approach it.
Discuss your matter