Gardiners Creek starts at Blackburn Lake and runs 17 kilometres to the Yarra at Hawthorn. Roughly two-fifths of Blackburn sits under a Significant Landscape Overlay, the planning control Whitehorse uses to protect the suburb’s big trees. That single fact shapes EV charger installation Blackburn jobs more than anything inside the house. Fitting the charger is seldom the tricky bit. Getting its cable to the car can be.
We come out to Blackburn from our premises in South Yarra, about 14 km away, and our A-grade electricians walk the route on site before we put a number on anything.
EV charger installation Blackburn: the trees come first
Three Significant Landscape Overlay schedules are named after Blackburn neighbourhoods. Schedule 1, Blackburn Area 1, covers the residential streets beside Blackburn and Gardiners creeks and Blackburn Lake Sanctuary, and the schedule notes that a number of these streets are classified by the National Trust for their landscape significance. Schedule 2 covers Blackburn Area 2, and Schedule 4 covers the Blackburn Early Settlement area near the lake.
In all three, removing, destroying or lopping a tree whose trunk measures more than 0.5 metres around, a metre above the ground, needs a planning permit. In Areas 1 and 2, works within 4 metres of a protected tree lose their permit exemption unless they leave the existing ground level and topography as they were; the Early Settlement schedule has no such carve-out. You can read the wording in Schedule 1 to the Significant Landscape Overlay.
The charger itself is treated differently. Under clause 62.02-2, an electric vehicle charging station is lifted out of the building and works permit net except where a control names it, and these schedules don’t. That exemption does not switch off tree controls, though, and neither does the statewide canopy tree clause, which, on a residential lot that already has a house, needs a permit to remove or lop a canopy tree (at least 5 metres tall, with a canopy averaging at least 4 metres across) whose trunk is within 6 metres of the street frontage or 4.5 metres of the rear boundary.
So our rule is simple: the cable goes around the tree, never through its roots. If a trench has to pass close to a protected tree, we suggest a quick call to Whitehorse’s planning team before anyone digs, and Whitehorse’s tree controls page has an address search that shows which overlays apply to your block. We would take a longer, dearer cable run over a damaged gum tree every time.
Long driveways and detached garages
Two-thirds of occupied homes in Blackburn were separate houses at the 2021 Census, and the planning scheme describes the Early Settlement streets as single-storey homes set well back on their blocks among large trees. Picture the hypothetical version: a switchboard by the front door, a detached garage at the end of a long driveway, and a canopy over most of the route between them.
Distance changes the cable. On a short run, a 32 A charger normally gets by on 6 mm² cable; stretch it down a long Blackburn driveway and 10 mm² may be needed to hold voltage drop within limits. Garages a long way from the house sometimes get a small sub-board of their own, fed by one heavier cable. Route options, roughly in our order of preference:
- In conduit along the house wall and fence line, clipped above ground.
- Under the eaves and across a covered walkway or pergola.
- Through an existing conduit or pit, if one is there and in good condition.
- A trench, kept well clear of root zones and reinstated to the original level.
Each choice moves the quote. The things that drive cost here are the length and size of cable, how much of it goes underground, whether the garage needs its own board, any switchboard work at the house, network approval and the charger model.
At the garage end, we look at which wall the charger will hang on, which side of the car the charge port sits, and whether the lead can reach it without crossing the path of a roller door. Small details, but they decide whether you still like the setup in a year.
Blackburn’s overlays and what each means for a charger
| Overlay | Where it applies | What it means for a charger job |
|---|---|---|
| SLO1, Blackburn Area 1 | Streets beside Blackburn and Gardiners creeks and Blackburn Lake Sanctuary | Tree permits; keep works more than 4 m from protected trees or leave ground levels unchanged |
| SLO2, Blackburn Area 2 | Areas noted for tall, dense, mature native trees | The same tree and 4 m rules as Area 1 |
| SLO4 and NCO1, Early Settlement | Older streets near the Blackburn Lake environs | Tree permits; keep works more than 4 m from protected trees; neighbourhood character rules for new buildings |
| SLO11, Gardiners Creek | The creek corridor | Vegetation permits; works within 50 m of the creek bank lose the standard exemption |
| SBO, Special Building Overlay | Land liable to overland flooding | Plan for water: mount equipment high and keep connections off the floor |
Creek corridors and garages that take water
The Special Building Overlay, which marks land where overland flows from the drainage system can flood, covers about 7 per cent of Blackburn. If your garage sits in one of those flow paths, we mount the charger higher on the wall, keep every connection clear of the floor and choose a unit its maker rates for that location.
Land along Gardiners Creek is also covered by Schedule 11, which only waives permits for buildings and works sited more than 50 metres from the top of the creek bank, among other conditions. A charger on an existing wall is still covered by the EV charging station exemption. A new carport or trench near the creek is worth checking before you commit.
Switchboards in Blackburn’s older homes
The planning scheme counts the area’s remaining pre-World War II houses among the things that make the Early Settlement streets special. Older houses can come with older switchboards, so before a charger goes on we check:
- Whether the board has room for a dedicated charger circuit.
- The safety switches. New work has to use Type A or Type B RCDs rather than Type AC, because a charger can produce DC leakage that a Type AC device may not detect.
- The main switch rating and the home’s maximum demand, counting the charger, heating, cooling and cooking together.
- The consumer mains that feed the board, which matter more on a deep block where the house sits a long way back from the street connection.
If the main switchboard or consumer mains need replacing, that is prescribed work under Victorian rules. An independent Licensed Electrical Inspector has to check it before the power goes back on, and we book that inspection as part of the job.
Daytime charging, solar and three-phase
Solar Victoria says home solar can reduce or even eliminate the cost of charging an EV, and smart chargers can be set to charge while the panels are generating. A home battery stores daytime solar for overnight charging. Daytime charging also suits flexible time-of-use tariffs, United Energy notes, and it wants smart chargers that respond to network conditions fitted by a REC and listed on its myEnergy portal. Our solar EV charger installation service sets this up so the car takes surplus generation first.
If you are weighing a 22 kW charger, it needs three-phase power and a car that can accept that rate on AC. Some Blackburn homes may need a supply upgrade, which we apply for through United Energy’s new and upgraded supplies process, and our page on three-phase power upgrades for EV charging covers what is involved.
More townhouses around the station
Blackburn is part of the state’s Train and Tram Zone Activity Centres Program, alongside Nunawading and Mitcham. When the final controls were announced in June 2026, Whitehorse City Council welcomed lower building heights than first proposed and the continued exclusion of land under SLO1, SLO2 and SLO4. More townhouses and apartments near the station are likely over time, and the cheapest charger circuit is the one designed in before the slab is poured. If you are building, talk to us at drawing stage. For everyone else, our home EV charger installation process covers existing houses and townhouses.
Frequently asked questions from Blackburn’s leafy streets
Does a Significant Landscape Overlay mean council has to approve my Blackburn charger?
The charger itself is exempt from planning permits under clause 62.02-2. The overlay’s tree rules still bite: removing or lopping a protected tree needs a permit, and how a trench close to one is treated is worth confirming with Whitehorse before anyone digs, so we plan the route around the trees.
Our garage is a long way from the switchboard. Can it still have a 7 kW charger?
Yes. A long run usually means a heavier cable or a small sub-board in the garage, and possibly a trench. The distance mainly affects cost and the route, not whether a charger is possible.
Who owns the poles and wires in Blackburn?
United Energy. The postcode locator run by CitiPower and Powercor lists only United Energy for 3130, so its rules apply: a REC installs the wall charger and registers it on myEnergy, which we lodge for you.
Can you service, repair or move a charger we already have?
Yes. Our EV charger repairs and servicing team handles faults, relocations to a new garage or carport, and safety checks on existing units.
What happens if a tree root is in the way of the trench?
We change the route rather than cut through it. That usually means running the cable above ground in conduit or along a fence line. If there is truly no other path past a protected tree, we will ask you to check with council before work goes ahead.
Describe the block, from switchboard to garage, through the DUKE EV contact page, or ring 1300 003 853 between 7am and 7pm, Monday to Saturday. Each Blackburn job is certified under our Victorian contractor number, REC 35838. If you are closer to the city end of Whitehorse Road, our Box Hill EV charger installation page is the better read.