Areas / Moorabool / Darley

Darley flood map & planning overlays

Darley houses 9,190 people, the most in Moorabool, with 27 bus stops.

A planning-constraint profile of Darley (Moorabool, VIC) - 26.73 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 Darley'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 Darley

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
89%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
56%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
1,000 ft
averaging 4,500 ft
Busiest square
~3 a day
1 a day below 3,000 ft · ±24% · area average
typical observed square 1 a day

Night movements: observed, lowest 2,000 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.

Darley at a glance

Parcels 4,337 Median lot 830 m² Mapped easements 2,121 Bus stops 27

How Darley is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 42%
Special Use Zone (SUZ2) 14%
General Residential Zone (GRZ2) 7%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 7%
Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ2) 6%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ) 5%

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

Across its 26.73 km², Darley is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 7% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 69% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 9 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 830 m² across 4,337 parcels.

Who lives in Darley

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

Population
9,190
usual residents, 2021
Median age
37
years
Median household income
$1,951
per week, Moorabool suburb typical $1,798
Median rent
$320
per week, Moorabool suburb typical $300
Median mortgage
$1,733
per month
Household size
2.8
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 982, and decile 4 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Darley's 9,190 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 6.4%
5-14 14.8%
15-19 6.5%
20-24 5.9%
25-34 13.3%
35-44 13.7%
45-54 13.7%
55-64 12.2%
65-74 8.7%
75-84 3.3%
85+ 1.5%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

14,540 in 2001 to 27,182 in 2025, up 87%.

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.

Darley 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 Darley 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 56% of Darley. 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 Darley lot.

Darley planning - frequently asked

Is Darley flood-prone?

About 7% of Darley falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 7%.

Is Darley bushfire-prone?

Around 69% of Darley is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Moorabool average of 98%.

Is Darley under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 56% of Darley, and over about 89% 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 1,000 ft, with an average of 4,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 3 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 Darley?

The dominant planning zone in Darley is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Special Use Zone (SUZ2) and General Residential Zone (GRZ2).

Does Darley have heritage-listed places?

Darley has 9 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Darley?

Across 4,337 surveyed parcels in Darley, the median lot size is about 830 m². There are also 2,121 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Darley have a train station?

There is no train station inside Darley itself. The suburb is served by 27 bus stops.

What is the population of Darley?

At the 2021 Census Darley had 9,190 usual residents, with a median age of 37 and an average household size of 2.8 people. The wider Bacchus Marsh statistical area, which contains Darley, went from 14,540 people in 2001 to 27,182 in 2025, up 87%.

Is Darley an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Darley 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).

What is the median household income in Darley?

Median household income in Darley was $1,951 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,798 for the typical suburb in Moorabool. Median rent was $320 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,733 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Merrimu 4.4 km 5% 100%
Bacchus Marsh 4.7 km 32% 39%
Pentland Hills 4.9 km 3% 100%
Long Forest 7.1 km 5% 100%
Maddingley 7.2 km 13% 86%
Coimadai 7.3 km 5% 99%
Hopetoun Park 8.9 km 18% 100%
Harkness
Melton
10.2 km <1% 77%
Korobeit 10.3 km 1% 100%
Rowsley 10.6 km 10% 100%

See all Moorabool suburb profiles →