Buffalo flood map & planning overlays
The VIC Buffalo keeps 5 ha farms with flood mapping across 12%, median 47.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Buffalo
(South Gippsland, VIC) - 109.81 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
109.81 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Buffalo'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 Buffalo
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.
Buffalo at a glance
How Buffalo is zoned
Selling in Buffalo? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 109.81 km², Buffalo is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 12% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 48,666 m² across 356 parcels.
Who lives in Buffalo
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Buffalo 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 1044, and decile 8 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Buffalo's 284 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Foster, the wider ABS statistical area containing Buffalo. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Buffalo itself.
8,272 in 2001 to 9,631 in 2025, up 16%.
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.
Buffalo 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 Buffalo 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 9% of Buffalo. 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 Buffalo lot.
Buffalo planning - frequently asked
Is Buffalo flood-prone?
About 12% of Buffalo falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%.
Is Buffalo bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Buffalo is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a South Gippsland average of 99%.
Is Buffalo under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 9% of Buffalo, and over about 28% 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 4,000 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 Buffalo?
The dominant planning zone in Buffalo is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ).
Does Buffalo have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Buffalo.
What is the typical lot size in Buffalo?
Across 356 surveyed parcels in Buffalo, the median lot size is about 48,666 m². There are also 114 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Buffalo have a train station?
There is no train station inside Buffalo itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.
What is the population of Buffalo?
At the 2021 Census Buffalo had 284 usual residents, with a median age of 47 and an average household size of 2.5 people. The wider Foster statistical area, which contains Buffalo, went from 8,272 people in 2001 to 9,631 in 2025, up 16%.
Is Buffalo an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Buffalo scores 1044 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Buffalo?
Median household income in Buffalo was $1,649 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,540 for the typical suburb in South Gippsland. Median rent was $260 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,150 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Tarwin | 7.0 km | 24% | 100% |
| Fish Creek | 8.0 km | 1% | 100% |
| Tarwin | 9.6 km | 4% | 100% |
| Meeniyan | 10.7 km | 14% | 100% |
| Stony Creek (Foster) | 11.3 km | 4% | 100% |
| Tarwin Lower | 13.2 km | 13% | 100% |
| Koonwarra | 13.8 km | 5% | 100% |
| Waratah Bay | 14.4 km | 16% | 100% |
| Pound Creek | 14.6 km | 14% | 100% |
| Walkerville | 14.9 km | <1% | 100% |