Bells Beach flood map & planning overlays
Bells Beach tops the Surf Coast for income ($2,600) and rent ($525).
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Bells Beach
(Surf Coast, VIC) - 11.76 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
11.76 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Bells Beach'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 Bells Beach
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
typical observed square 0 a day
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.
Bells Beach at a glance
How Bells Beach is zoned
Selling in Bells Beach? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 11.76 km², Bells Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 2% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 6 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ2). The median lot measures about 40,591 m² across 97 parcels.
Who lives in Bells Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Bells Beach 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 1137, and decile 10 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Bells Beach's 151 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Torquay, the wider ABS statistical area containing Bells Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Bells Beach itself.
10,225 in 2001 to 26,581 in 2025, up 160%.
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.
Bells Beach 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 Bells Beach 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 →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 70% of Bells Beach. 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 Bells Beach lot.
Bells Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Bells Beach flood-prone?
About 2% of Bells Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 7%.
Is Bells Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Bells Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Surf Coast average of 97%.
Is Bells Beach under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 70% of Bells Beach, and over about 96% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 3,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 2 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. 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 Bells Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Bells Beach is Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ2), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and Transport Zone (TRZ2).
Does Bells Beach have heritage-listed places?
Bells Beach has 6 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Bells Beach?
Across 97 surveyed parcels in Bells Beach, the median lot size is about 40,591 m². There are also 76 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Bells Beach?
At the 2021 Census Bells Beach had 151 usual residents, with a median age of 48 and an average household size of 2.9 people. The wider Torquay statistical area, which contains Bells Beach, went from 10,225 people in 2001 to 26,581 in 2025, up 160%.
Is Bells Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Bells Beach scores 1137 and sits in decile 10 of 10 nationally and decile 10 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Bells Beach?
Median household income in Bells Beach was $2,600 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,045 for the typical suburb in Surf Coast. Median rent was $525 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,600 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bellbrae | 3.8 km | 2% | 100% |
| Jan Juc | 5.6 km | 4% | 77% |
| Anglesea | 8.6 km | 9% | 100% |
| Torquay | 9.7 km | 7% | 77% |
| Paraparap | 10.5 km | 9% | 100% |
| Freshwater Creek | 11.9 km | 11% | 100% |
| Gherang | 14.7 km | 5% | 100% |
| Breamlea Greater Geelong |
15.0 km | 71% | 100% |
| Aireys Inlet | 15.0 km | 4% | 100% |
| Mount Duneed | 15.5 km | 10% | 91% |