Areas / Ballarat / Durham Lead

Durham Lead flood map & planning overlays

Durham Lead rents for $412 a week, more than any other Ballarat suburb.

A planning-constraint profile of Durham Lead (Ballarat, VIC) - 26.99 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 Durham Lead'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 Durham Lead

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
66%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
11%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
2,000 ft
averaging 4,500 ft
Busiest square
~1 a day
±24% · area average
typical observed square 1 a day

Night movements: observed, lowest 8,500 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.

Durham Lead at a glance

Parcels 375 Median lot 43,355 m² Mapped easements 68

How Durham Lead is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 31%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ) 21%
Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ2) 21%
Public Use Zone (PUZ7) 13%
Rural Activity Zone (RAZ1) 10%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ1) 4%

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

Across its 26.99 km², Durham Lead is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 5% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 8 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 43,355 m² across 375 parcels.

Who lives in Durham Lead

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

Population
408
usual residents, 2021
Median age
44
years
Median household income
$1,916
per week, Ballarat suburb typical $1,680
Median rent
$412
per week, Ballarat suburb typical $300
Median mortgage
$1,850
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 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 1010, and decile 6 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Durham Lead's 408 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 4.7%
5-14 13.1%
15-19 7.4%
20-24 3.5%
25-34 6.2%
35-44 15.3%
45-54 19.6%
55-64 12.9%
65-74 12.6%
75-84 4.0%
85+ 0.7%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

Estimated resident population of Gordon (Vic.), the wider ABS statistical area containing Durham Lead. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Durham Lead itself.

5,350 in 2001 to 6,557 in 2025, up 23%.

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.

Durham Lead 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 Durham Lead 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 11% of Durham Lead. 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 Durham Lead lot.

Durham Lead planning - frequently asked

Is Durham Lead flood-prone?

About 5% of Durham Lead falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 8%.

Is Durham Lead bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Durham Lead is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Ballarat average of 68%.

Is Durham Lead under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 11% of Durham Lead, and over about 66% 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 2,000 ft, with an average of 4,500 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 Durham Lead?

The dominant planning zone in Durham Lead is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Rural Living Zone (RLZ) and Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ2).

Does Durham Lead have heritage-listed places?

Durham Lead has 8 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Durham Lead?

Across 375 surveyed parcels in Durham Lead, the median lot size is about 43,355 m². There are also 68 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

What is the population of Durham Lead?

At the 2021 Census Durham Lead had 408 usual residents, with a median age of 44 and an average household size of 2.8 people. The wider Gordon (Vic.) statistical area, which contains Durham Lead, went from 5,350 people in 2001 to 6,557 in 2025, up 23%.

Is Durham Lead an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Durham Lead scores 1010 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 Durham Lead?

Median household income in Durham Lead was $1,916 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,680 for the typical suburb in Ballarat. Median rent was $412 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,850 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Scotsburn 4.5 km 4% 100%
Garibaldi
Golden Plains
4.6 km 18% 100%
Scotchmans Lead 4.6 km 3% 100%
Buninyong 5.6 km <1% 94%
Napoleons
Golden Plains
7.0 km 10% 100%
Grenville
Moorabool
7.1 km 7% 100%
Clarendon
Moorabool
7.7 km 10% 100%
Mount Helen 7.8 km <1% 100%
Magpie 8.0 km Not mapped 100%
Cambrian Hill
Golden Plains
8.9 km 4% 100%

See all Ballarat suburb profiles →