Dawson flood map & planning overlays
Dawson: 6 ha Farming Zone lots, 16.6% flood.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Dawson
(Wellington, VIC) - 20.82 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
20.82 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Dawson'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 Dawson
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: observed, lowest 3,500 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.
Dawson at a glance
How Dawson is zoned
Selling in Dawson? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 20.82 km², Dawson is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 17% 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 63,758 m² across 135 parcels.
Who lives in Dawson
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Dawson 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 983, and decile 4 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Maffra, the wider ABS statistical area containing Dawson. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Dawson itself.
13,002 in 2001 to 15,549 in 2025, up 20%.
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.
Dawson 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 Dawson 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 22% of Dawson. 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 Dawson lot.
Dawson planning - frequently asked
Is Dawson flood-prone?
About 17% of Dawson falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 26%.
Is Dawson bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Dawson is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Wellington average of 96%.
Is Dawson under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 22% of Dawson, and over about 36% 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 3,500 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 Dawson?
The dominant planning zone in Dawson is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).
Does Dawson have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Dawson.
What is the typical lot size in Dawson?
Across 135 surveyed parcels in Dawson, the median lot size is about 63,758 m². There are also 6 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Is Dawson an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Dawson scores 983 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 suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seaton | 3.6 km | 0% | 100% |
| Cowwarr | 6.1 km | 18% | 100% |
| Heyfield | 6.7 km | 28% | 99% |
| Walhalla East | 10.6 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Toongabbie Latrobe |
12.4 km | 2% | 100% |
| Winnindoo | 12.6 km | 1% | 100% |
| Tinamba West | 13.3 km | 28% | 100% |
| Coongulla | 13.6 km | 11% | 95% |
| Maffra West Upper | 16.1 km | 4% | 100% |
| Glenmaggie | 16.7 km | 6% | 97% |