Areas / Colac Otway / Cressy

Cressy flood map & planning overlays

Cressy matches Barramunga with 11 heritage places, joint 6th.

A planning-constraint profile of Cressy (Colac Otway, VIC) - 115.65 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 Cressy'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 Cressy

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
72%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
49%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
500 ft
averaging 3,000 ft
Busiest square
~1 a day
0 a day below 3,000 ft · ±28% · area average
typical observed square 0 a day

Night movements: observed, lowest 4,000 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.

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.

Cressy at a glance

Parcels 795 Median lot 4,105 m² Mapped easements 139

How Cressy is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 75%
Farming Zone (FZ1) 12%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 10%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 1%
Township Zone (TZ) 1%
Transport Zone (TRZ1) 0%

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

Across its 115.65 km², Cressy is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 24% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 11 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 4,105 m² across 795 parcels.

Who lives in Cressy

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

Population
176
usual residents, 2021
Median age
52
years
Median household income
$857
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $1,443
Median rent
$250
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $239
Median mortgage
$917
per month
Household size
2.0
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 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 981, and decile 4 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Cressy's 176 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 5.4%
5-14 8.1%
15-19 4.9%
20-24 4.9%
25-34 9.7%
35-44 7.6%
45-54 10.3%
55-64 18.9%
65-74 15.7%
75-84 11.9%
85+ 2.7%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

5,829 in 2001 to 5,670 in 2025, down 3%.

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.

Cressy 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 Cressy 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 49% of Cressy. 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 Cressy lot.

Cressy planning - frequently asked

Is Cressy flood-prone?

About 24% of Cressy falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%.

Is Cressy bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Cressy is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Colac Otway average of 97%.

Is Cressy under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 49% of Cressy, and over about 72% 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 1 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 Cressy?

The dominant planning zone in Cressy is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Farming Zone (FZ1) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).

Does Cressy have heritage-listed places?

Cressy has 11 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Cressy?

Across 795 surveyed parcels in Cressy, the median lot size is about 4,105 m². There are also 139 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

What is the population of Cressy?

At the 2021 Census Cressy had 176 usual residents, with a median age of 52 and an average household size of 2.0 people. The wider Colac Surrounds statistical area, which contains Cressy, went from 5,829 people in 2001 to 5,670 in 2025, down 3%.

Is Cressy an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cressy scores 981 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 4 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Cressy?

Median household income in Cressy was $857 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,443 for the typical suburb in Colac Otway. Median rent was $250 a week and the median mortgage repayment $917 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Weering 7.2 km 30% 100%
Duverney
Corangamite
8.8 km 18% 100%
Barunah Plains 9.7 km 10% 100%
Cundare North 11.6 km 70% 75%
Werneth
Golden Plains
12.2 km 12% 100%
Cundare 13.3 km 14% 97%
Wingeel 13.6 km 13% 100%
Eurack 14.2 km 63% 96%
Rokewood
Golden Plains
14.3 km 5% 100%
Barunah Park
Golden Plains
14.6 km 6% 100%

See all Colac Otway suburb profiles →