Areas / Ararat / Cathcart

Cathcart zoning & planning overlays

The VIC Cathcart earns $1,899 a week, 3rd in Ararat.

A planning-constraint profile of Cathcart (Ararat, VIC) - 34.07 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained on the overlays we could measure - no flood mapping covers this suburb, so this is not a suburb-wide verdict.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.

Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Cathcart's boundary, with the bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft. No flood layer is drawn because we hold no flood mapping for this area.

Nearby suburbs, nearest first

Aircraft noise and flight paths over Cathcart

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
7%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
0%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
3,000 ft
averaging 6,000 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.

Cathcart at a glance

Parcels 466 Median lot 51,167 m²

How Cathcart is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 98%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 1%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 1%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ) 0%

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

Across its 34.07 km², Cathcart is highly constrained by the planning overlays we hold. We hold no flood mapping covering this suburb, so no flood figure is shown - that is a gap in our data, not an all-clear. Of what is mapped, 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 5 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 51,167 m² across 466 parcels.

Who lives in Cathcart

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

Population
110
usual residents, 2021
Median age
53
years
Median household income
$1,899
per week, Ararat suburb typical $1,370
Median rent
$138
per week, Ararat suburb typical $147
Median mortgage
$1,315
per month
Household size
2.3
people, average

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 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 1011, and decile 6 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Cathcart's 110 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 4.1%
5-14 9.9%
15-19 4.1%
20-24 5.0%
25-34 5.0%
35-44 7.4%
45-54 16.5%
55-64 18.2%
65-74 20.7%
75-84 6.6%
85+ 2.5%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

3,183 in 2001 to 3,181 in 2025, down 0%.

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.

Cathcart data sources and coverage

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

DatasetCoveragePublisher
Flood mappingNot mappedVicmap 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 Cathcart 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 Cathcart lot.

Cathcart planning - frequently asked

Is Cathcart flood-prone?

We don't yet hold flood mapping covering Cathcart, so this page can't say how much of the suburb is flood-affected - that is a gap in our data, not an indication that the suburb is free of flood risk. Ararat is the authority to check for flood mapping in this area.

Is Cathcart bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Cathcart is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Ararat average of 100%.

Is Cathcart under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed over about 7% of Cathcart in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 3,000 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 Cathcart?

The dominant planning zone in Cathcart is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Transport Zone (TRZ2) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).

Does Cathcart have heritage-listed places?

Cathcart has 5 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Cathcart?

Across 466 surveyed parcels in Cathcart, the median lot size is about 51,167 m².

What is the population of Cathcart?

At the 2021 Census Cathcart had 110 usual residents, with a median age of 53 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Ararat Surrounds statistical area, which contains Cathcart, went from 3,183 people in 2001 to 3,181 in 2025, down 0%.

Is Cathcart an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cathcart scores 1011 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 Cathcart?

Median household income in Cathcart was $1,899 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,370 for the typical suburb in Ararat. Median rent was $138 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,315 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Rocky Point 3.9 km Not mapped 100%
Denicull Creek 5.2 km Not mapped 100%
Norval 7.2 km Not mapped 100%
Langi Logan 10.0 km Not mapped 100%
Ararat 10.4 km 0% 97%
Armstrong 11.0 km <1% 100%
Moyston 12.5 km 0% 100%
Maroona 12.6 km Not mapped 100%
Dobie 13.5 km Not mapped 100%
Rhymney 14.0 km 0% 100%

See all Ararat suburb profiles →