Amherst flood map & planning overlays
Amherst's 1,070 m² blocks are Central Goldfields' 2nd-tightest.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Amherst
(Central Goldfields, VIC) - 33.67 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
33.67 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Amherst's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Amherst
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 24 Oct 2026
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Amherst at a glance
How Amherst is zoned
Selling in Amherst? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 33.67 km², Amherst is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 17% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 12 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ). The median lot measures about 1,070 m² across 496 parcels.
Who lives in Amherst
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Amherst suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 874, and decile 1 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Amherst's 63 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Maryborough Surrounds, the wider ABS statistical area containing Amherst. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Amherst itself.
5,375 in 2001 to 5,714 in 2025, up 6%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Amherst data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Zoning | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 24 October 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Amherst address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Amherst lot.
Amherst planning - frequently asked
Is Amherst flood-prone?
About 17% of Amherst falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 26%.
Is Amherst bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Amherst is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Central Goldfields average of 100%.
Is Amherst under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 18% of Amherst in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 4,500 ft. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Amherst?
The dominant planning zone in Amherst is Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ), though the suburb also includes Farming Zone (FZ) and Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ).
Does Amherst have heritage-listed places?
Amherst has 12 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Amherst?
Across 496 surveyed parcels in Amherst, the median lot size is about 1,070 m². There are also 10 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Amherst?
At the 2021 Census Amherst had 63 usual residents, with a median age of 57 and an average household size of 2.1 people. The wider Maryborough Surrounds statistical area, which contains Amherst, went from 5,375 people in 2001 to 5,714 in 2025, up 6%.
Is Amherst an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Amherst scores 874 and sits in decile 1 of 10 nationally and decile 1 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Amherst?
Median household income in Amherst was $850 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,024 for the typical suburb in Central Goldfields. Median rent was $200 a week and the median mortgage repayment $732 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talbot | 5.7 km | 24% | 100% |
| Lillicur | 5.9 km | 8% | 100% |
| Adelaide Lead | 6.1 km | 12% | 100% |
| Daisy Hill | 6.4 km | 0% | 100% |
| Caralulup | 6.6 km | 10% | 100% |
| Bung Bong | 8.2 km | 22% | 100% |
| Stony Creek (Talbot) | 9.8 km | 11% | 100% |
| Craigie | 10.3 km | 39% | 100% |
| Red Lion | 10.3 km | 19% | 100% |
| Moonlight Flat (Maryborough) | 10.5 km | 10% | 100% |