Artificial Grass on the Verge in Perth: Six Councils, Four Answers

Permitted

City of Gosnells: artificial lawn is on the permitted list, by name

This is the cleanest permission of the six, and the mirror image of Canning. The City's Permissible Verge Treatments information sheet sets out what you may use:

"Permitted materials for your verge are: Lawn, an area of mown and cultivated grass less than 100mm high; Artificial lawn; Reticulation; Plants, not of a thorny, poisonous or hazardous nature less than 600mm high; Brick paving; Organic mulch; Wood chips; Compacted limestone; A garden"

Condition 4 attaches the responsibility to it: "Artificial lawn is permitted where it is installed to manufacturer's specifications. The resident has complete responsibility for its upkeep and maintenance." Condition 5 is the one an installer has to build to: "Where an acceptable material is installed that prevents water penetration, residents must leave a clearance of at least 1 metre around the base of the street tree to minimise any impact of future growth of the tree." Sight lines must also be kept clear at all times, though Gosnells does not publish a numeric clear width.

One tension in the document deserves flagging rather than resolving. "Any impervious materials" appears in the City's "Not Permitted under any circumstances" list, while "Artificial lawn" sits on the permitted list and condition 5 expressly contemplates an acceptable material that prevents water penetration. The specific permission is what the City clearly intends, so that is what we publish, and we are not going to pretend the generic line overrides it.

Reinstatement risk is stated in the same sheet, and it is the sentence a Gosnells homeowner should read twice: "Artificial lawn and brick paving may have to be removed or cut to make way for these works and which the City of Gosnells may not reinstate. These verge treatments are installed with the owners of the property being responsible for reinstatement and are installed at their own risk." The backstop if you install something not on the list is clause 2.8(1) of the Thoroughfares and Public Places Local Law 2021: "A person shall not install or maintain a verge treatment which is not a permissible verge treatment".

Source: City of Gosnells, Permissible Verge Treatments information sheet, version 4, version date 20/01/2026, Document Set ID 7557049. gosnells.wa.gov.au/cmis/document/ecm/document-7557049, with the verge page at gosnells.wa.gov.au/Your_property/In_your_street/Verges. An older July 2016 version of the same sheet is still live elsewhere on the site; the January 2026 version is the one to use. Whether artificial lawn interacts with the City's separate Waterwise Verge Garden Guidelines is not something we have verified, so we make no claim about it.

City of Kalamunda: permitted, but only half your verge

Kalamunda does not ban synthetic turf and does not make you apply separately for it. It classifies it, then caps it. Conditions 11 and 12 of the City's verge landscaping conditions:

"11. Non-vegetated areas (paving, gravel, sand, synthetic turf): a. Must not consist of loose pea gravel, b. Must be compacted if made of gravel, sand, or similar materials, and c. Must occupy no more than 50% of the total verge area."

"12. Synthetic turf is to be treated as a non-vegetated area."

Note 22 explains how the 50% is measured, and it is stricter than most people assume because canopy does not count: "measure the verge area from kerb to boundary line, and from the left and right edges of the property. The area when divided in half represents the minimum area that must have vegetation. To measure vegetation area, the area is the ground area, so does not include canopy cover. The area around the plants and trees will need to be mulched or grassed to be measured as vegetation."

Clearances: where there is no footpath, "a level even space must be maintained for pedestrians to walk through with a one and half metre wide and two-metre-high clear space", and where there is one, vegetation must be kept off it with two metres of clear height.

The approval position is unusual enough to quote in full. The underlying instrument is the By Law Relating to Street Lawns and Gardens (1964), under which "A person shall not plant a lawn or garden in a street, except pursuant to a permit issued by the council". The City then waives the paperwork: "In the interests of reducing unnecessary administrative work, a formal application is not required where all of the conditions in this guideline have been complied with." It also warns that "The by law takes precedence in all cases." So: meet the conditions and you do not need to apply. Miss them and the permit requirement is still sitting there, along with clause 9, under which the City may require landscaping to be removed at the owner's cost.

Source: City of Kalamunda, Verge Landscaping Conditions for Residential Property, document version 1.0, date of issue 21/7/2020. kalamunda.wa.gov.au verge landscaping conditions (PDF). Covers Kalamunda, High Wycombe and Forrestfield.

Allowed, with approval

City of Swan: written permission first

Swan puts synthetic turf in a middle category. Under "Other Permissible Verge Treatments":

"The use of hardstand treatments other than for paths and crossovers is not normally encouraged within the City for safety, drainage, environmental and aesthetic reasons. The following treatments are allowed but require written permission from the City: 1. Paving 2. Synthetic Turf 3. Compact aggregate, ferrocrete, cracker dust or road base. For these treatments to be considered on any portion of the verge, an Application to Alter Verge Form must be submitted to the City."

The conditions that come with approval put every obligation on the applicant: installing to the approved plan, "Maintaining the paving, synthetic turf or compact aggregate in a safe and sound condition", and "Reinstating the paving, synthetic turf or compact aggregate at the Applicant's cost in the event that any City or government utilities have reason to disturb the synthetic turf to work on their infrastructure." Two design requirements follow. There must be "at least one opening of a minimum of one metre by one metre in the hardstand treatment for the placement of a tree or garden bed per property frontage", with two or three openings on side verges for corner lots. And levels must be set so that water is collected and, where possible, directed "into the tree well(s) or garden beds".

Worth being precise here, because it would be easy to get wrong: synthetic turf is not on Swan's banned list. That list covers asphalt, bitumen, concrete, all structures including walls and letter boxes, and loose aggregate. Where there is no path, a 1.2m clear zone of grass, mulch or other approved material is required along the verge.

Watch item, and it is a real one. At the City of Swan annual electors meeting on 2 February 2026, two motions were carried: one asking the City to consider removing synthetic lawn from its approved verge treatments list, and one asking it to investigate prohibiting synthetic turf on all private property with an exception for sporting grounds. Echo Newspaper reported on 12 February 2026 that "The council is expected to consider the motions at an upcoming ordinary council meeting later this year." An electors' meeting motion is a request to Council, not a rule change. As at August 2026 we could find no Council decision acting on it, and the published Verge Guidelines still list synthetic turf as permitted with written approval. If you are in Ballajura or Beechboro and planning a verge, confirm the current position with the City before committing.

Source: City of Swan Verge Guidelines, "For residential, commercial and industrial streetscapes", document code 0005STRP-24. swan.wa.gov.au verge guidelines (PDF). The document carries no printed adoption date, so we cite it as the current guidelines rather than by year. Motions reported at echonewspaper.com.au, 12 February 2026.

City of Cockburn: approval past 25%, and a candid enforcement position

Cockburn's Street Verge Improvements policy contains one clause naming synthetic turf:

"2. Approval is required for synthetic turf or hard surface treatments where more than 25% of the verge is paved. Verges with hard paved or impermeable areas must demonstrate mitigation of urban heat island through street tree planting or landscaping and verge permeability."

There is a trap in this document that we want to defuse rather than repeat. Elsewhere the policy says "Not supported verge treatments include signs, fences, barriers, lighting, unsafe materials that produce a loose or slippery surface, rocks, stakes and some impermeable surfaces." The phrase is "some impermeable surfaces", and it does not name turf. Cockburn has not listed synthetic turf as a not-supported treatment, and we will not report it as though it has.

Cockburn also gave PerthNow a direct on-the-record statement in September 2024, which is the most quotable council comment in the Perth dataset. It confirms the 25% rule, then says: "The City doesn't support the application of synthetic grass to the entire verge as it can increase water wastage and run-off, and contributes to the urban heat island effect as it can reach up to 100 degrees on a hot day." It adds that where a mature tree is on the verge, laying turf "often requires soil heights to be lowered, resulting in damage to tree roots which can cause the death of mature trees", and that utility providers "will remove artificial turf if access is required and won't necessarily replace the turf at completion of works."

The same statement contains an unusually frank line: "The Policy has been in place for more than a decade. It has not been the subject of significant complaint... The City does not patrol verges for non-compliance." Read that as what it is, a statement about proactive patrolling, not an invitation. Complaints are still dealt with, and the design reasons for the rule do not change based on who is looking.

Clearances: without a footpath, "a clear unplanted space of 1.5m from the road kerb is required to facilitate pedestrian movement off the road"; with one, shrubs must be set back at least 500mm from footpath and kerb.

Source: City of Cockburn Council Policy, Street Verge Improvements, ECM Doc Set ID 8503806, version 4 dated 16 May 2023, adoption date 11 May 2023. cockburn.wa.gov.au street verge improvements policy. Media response at cockburn.wa.gov.au, 13 September 2024. Covers turf in Success and artificial grass in Hammond Park.

Not permitted

City of Canning: defined, then banned

Canning is the strongest prohibition of the six, and unusually it says the same thing in three places, which is exactly the triangulation you want before publishing a claim like this. The policy's definitions table lists what may not be used:

"Materials that may not be used on the verge include: Artificial turf / synthetic grass; Crushed brick; Unbound crushed limestone; Loose, unbound gravel, blue-metal, pea gravel, stones; Loose rubber mulch"

Clause 8(10) then makes it operational: "Approval will not be granted for the use of unacceptable materials including artificial turf or synthetic grass, loose gravel, stones or crushed brick." And the City's live verge page repeats it in plainer language, saying under "Important information" that the City does not approve "the installation of artificial grass" on City verges, and listing "synthetic turf" among treatments that are not permitted.

What Canning does allow without approval is natural lawn, organic mulch, in-ground irrigation and verge gardens. Hard surfacing with an acceptable material needs prior written approval, is capped at "The maximum allowable paved area using an acceptable material is 33% including any footpath or crossover", and none of it may go within 2m of an existing tree trunk. Where there is no footpath, a clear, stable area must be kept within 1.5m of the kerb.

Canning runs a Verge Incentive Scheme, and it is worth understanding why turf cannot benefit from it. Clause 6 limits the City's support to persons installing or improving "waterwise verge gardens, particularly those using locally native plants". Artificial turf is an unacceptable material under the same policy. That artificial turf therefore cannot qualify is our reasoning from the two clauses read together, not a statement the City has made.

Source: City of Canning Council Policy ET.529, Streetscape Management, Verge Landscape Treatments, version 4, adopted at OCM 13 December 2022. canning.wa.gov.au policy ET.529 (PDF) and canning.wa.gov.au verge landscaping. Covers Willetton.

Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale: on the non-permissible list

The Shire's verge policy splits treatments into two lists. Artificial turf is on the wrong one. Under "Non-Permissible Verge Treatments":

"Retaining walls or other obstructions such as rocks, posts or raised garden beds. Artificial turf. In-situ concrete or any asphalt material (crossovers and footpaths are excluded). Compacted materials, such as limestone, gravel, or blue metal fines... Loose materials such as gravel, blue metal... Loose materials such as sawdust, crumbled rubber, or crushed bricks. Private infrastructure such as letter boxes, water meters, and electrical wiring."

The permissible list, by contrast, is waterwise gardens, lawn treatments, edible gardens, organic mulch, reticulation and acceptable hardstand materials.

One caveat matters enormously in Byford, where a lot of verge treatment predates the current policy: it is not retrospective. The Shire says so: "This Policy only applies to a new verge treatment, or changes to an existing verge. The policy is not retrospective and existing, compliant verge treatments can remain." So an established synthetic verge down the road is not evidence that you may install one now.

There is a variation mechanism, and we are going to describe it without overselling it. The policy allows that "A variation to this policy will be assessed against the objectives of this policy where adequate justification is provided, and the intent of the policy is deemed to have been met", including retrospectively. The policy does not say artificial turf variations are granted, and no example is published. Treat it as a door, not a result.

Source: Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Council Policy, Urban and Rural Verge, CM Ref E25/3151, adopted 18 November 2024 (OCM333/11/24), version 2 dated 17 March 2025. sjshire.wa.gov.au urban and rural verge policy. The Policy defers detail on some points to separate Verge Guidelines which we have not read; the artificial turf prohibition in the Policy is unqualified and does not defer.