Fairhaven flood map & planning overlays

The schematic on this page is a Fairhaven flood map: the mapped flood overlays drawn over the suburb's terrain and street grid, covering about 18% of the suburb. Flood lines vary block to block, so for a specific property use the free interactive map - search any Fairhaven address and it shows the flood, zoning and bushfire mapping on the exact lot boundary.

About 18% of Fairhaven falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 6%. Flood overlays vary block to block, so whether a particular lot is affected needs a property-level check.

Around 100% of Fairhaven is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Surf Coast average of 99%. A bushfire-prone designation can trigger additional building requirements, so check the specific address.

The dominant planning zone in Fairhaven is Rural Conservation Zone (RCZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and General Residential Zone (GRZ1). Zoning sets what you can build and do on a site, and can differ lot by lot.

Fairhaven has 2 heritage-listed places on record. Heritage listing affects what you can alter or demolish, so confirm whether a specific property is listed or near a heritage place.

Across 644 surveyed parcels in Fairhaven, the median lot size is about 1,055 m². There are also 270 registered easements mapped in the suburb - an easement can restrict where you can build, so always check the title and overlays for the specific lot.

There is no train station inside Fairhaven itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.

At the 2021 Census Fairhaven had 390 usual residents, with a median age of 56 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Lorne - Anglesea statistical area, which contains Fairhaven, went from 4,748 people in 2001 to 6,307 in 2025, up 33%. ABS publishes no annual population series for individual suburbs, so that trend describes the surrounding area rather than Fairhaven alone.

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Fairhaven scores 1106 and sits in decile 10 of 10 nationally and decile 10 within Victoria - decile 1 being the most disadvantaged tenth of Australian suburbs and decile 10 the least. The national average score is 1000. SEIFA summarises income, education, occupation and housing across the whole suburb, so it describes the area, not any particular household in it.

Median household income in Fairhaven was $2,023 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,045 for the typical suburb in Surf Coast. Median rent was $340 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,993 a month. These are 2021 Census figures and have not been indexed to today.

A Fairhaven planning report pulls every overlay - zoning, flood, bushfire, heritage, environmental and noise - that touches a single lot, on live council and state data. The interactive map preview is free; the full PDF report is $9.