Bulgana flood map & planning overlays

Bulgana: 34 ha lots and 23.8% environmental overlay.

A planning-constraint profile of Bulgana (Northern Grampians, VIC) - 91.35 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.

Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Bulgana'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 Bulgana

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

Under observed aircraft
12%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
0%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
4,000 ft
averaging 6,500 ft
How often
not established
aircraft were seen, but not often enough to put a rate on

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.

Bulgana at a glance

Parcels 169 Median lot 340,519 m² Mapped easements 2

How Bulgana is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 99%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 1%

Selling in Bulgana? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.

Across its 91.35 km², Bulgana is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 6% 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 340,519 m² across 169 parcels.

Who lives in Bulgana

Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Bulgana suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.

Population
19
usual residents, 2021

Socio-economic standing

ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.

Advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD) Decile 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 982, and decile 4 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 6
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

Estimated resident population of Stawell, the wider ABS statistical area containing Bulgana. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Bulgana itself.

8,778 in 2001 to 8,438 in 2025, down 4%.

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.

Bulgana data sources and coverage

“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.

DatasetCoveragePublisher
Flood mappingMappedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
Bushfire-prone mappingMappedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
ZoningMappedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
Heritage and environmentMapped where publishedVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services
Aircraft noise contours (ANEF)Not heldVicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence
Observed flight pathsObservedadsb.lol, under the Open Database License
DemographicsAvailableAustralian 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 Bulgana 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 Bulgana lot.

Bulgana planning - frequently asked

Is Bulgana flood-prone?

About 6% of Bulgana falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 27%.

Is Bulgana bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Bulgana is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Northern Grampians average of 100%.

Is Bulgana under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed over about 12% of Bulgana in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 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 Bulgana?

The dominant planning zone in Bulgana is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).

Does Bulgana have heritage-listed places?

No heritage-listed places are on record within Bulgana.

What is the typical lot size in Bulgana?

Across 169 surveyed parcels in Bulgana, the median lot size is about 340,519 m². There are also 2 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Is Bulgana an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Bulgana scores 982 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 4 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Joel South 7.8 km 18% 100%
Dunneworthy
Ararat
8.6 km 5% 100%
Crowlands
Pyrenees
9.1 km 12% 100%
Great Western 10.0 km 7% 100%
Shays Flat 10.9 km 7% 100%
Armstrong
Ararat
13.2 km <1% 100%
Joel Joel 14.1 km 28% 100%
Ararat
Ararat
14.5 km 0% 97%
Mount Cole Creek
Ararat
14.7 km 13% 100%
Concongella 14.8 km 15% 100%

See all Northern Grampians suburb profiles →