Bowmans Forest flood map & planning overlays
Bowmans Forest earns $2,071 a week, median 53 (joint 4th).
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Bowmans Forest
(Wangaratta, VIC) - 56.02 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
56.02 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Bowmans Forest'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 Bowmans Forest
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.
Bowmans Forest at a glance
How Bowmans Forest is zoned
Selling in Bowmans Forest? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 56.02 km², Bowmans Forest is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 4% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 2 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 77,073 m² across 258 parcels.
Who lives in Bowmans Forest
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Bowmans Forest 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 1005, and decile 6 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Bowmans Forest's 106 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Wangaratta Surrounds, the wider ABS statistical area containing Bowmans Forest. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Bowmans Forest itself.
9,151 in 2001 to 10,070 in 2025, up 10%.
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.
Bowmans Forest 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 Bowmans Forest 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 Bowmans Forest lot.
Bowmans Forest planning - frequently asked
Is Bowmans Forest flood-prone?
About 4% of Bowmans Forest falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 17%.
Is Bowmans Forest bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Bowmans Forest is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Wangaratta average of 99%.
Is Bowmans Forest under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 6% of Bowmans Forest in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 6,500 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 Bowmans Forest?
The dominant planning zone in Bowmans Forest is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Transport Zone (TRZ2) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).
Does Bowmans Forest have heritage-listed places?
Bowmans Forest has 2 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Bowmans Forest?
Across 258 surveyed parcels in Bowmans Forest, the median lot size is about 77,073 m². There are also 56 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Bowmans Forest?
At the 2021 Census Bowmans Forest had 106 usual residents, with a median age of 53 and an average household size of 2.4 people. The wider Wangaratta Surrounds statistical area, which contains Bowmans Forest, went from 9,151 people in 2001 to 10,070 in 2025, up 10%.
Is Bowmans Forest an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Bowmans Forest scores 1005 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Bowmans Forest?
Median household income in Bowmans Forest was $2,071 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,531 for the typical suburb in Wangaratta. Median rent was $160 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,083 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everton | 6.3 km | 22% | 100% |
| Murmungee | 6.4 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Whorouly | 6.4 km | 51% | 100% |
| Gapsted Alpine |
7.5 km | 13% | 100% |
| Whorouly East | 8.3 km | 20% | 100% |
| Markwood | 10.1 km | 31% | 100% |
| Everton Upper | 11.6 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Merriang Alpine |
11.9 km | 49% | 100% |
| Whorouly South | 13.8 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Bobinawarrah | 14.1 km | 9% | 100% |