Forbes flood map & planning overlays
The VIC Forbes has Mitchell's 3rd-highest rent, $425.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Forbes
(Mitchell, VIC) - 34.77 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
34.77 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Forbes'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 Forbes
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
typical observed square 0 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 4,500 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.
Forbes at a glance
How Forbes is zoned
Selling in Forbes? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 34.77 km², Forbes is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 162,529 m² across 129 parcels.
Who lives in Forbes
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Forbes 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 1019, and decile 7 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Forbes's 158 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Kilmore - Broadford, the wider ABS statistical area containing Forbes. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Forbes itself.
8,889 in 2001 to 16,694 in 2025, up 88%.
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.
Forbes 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 Forbes 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 30% of Forbes. 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 Forbes lot.
Forbes planning - frequently asked
Is Forbes flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Forbes and none of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 6%).
Is Forbes bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Forbes is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Mitchell average of 99%.
Is Forbes under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 30% of Forbes, and over about 87% 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 1,500 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 Forbes?
The dominant planning zone in Forbes is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Transport Zone (TRZ2) and Public Use Zone (PUZ7).
Does Forbes have heritage-listed places?
Forbes has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
What is the typical lot size in Forbes?
Across 129 surveyed parcels in Forbes, the median lot size is about 162,529 m². There are also 33 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Forbes?
At the 2021 Census Forbes had 158 usual residents, with a median age of 49 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Kilmore - Broadford statistical area, which contains Forbes, went from 8,889 people in 2001 to 16,694 in 2025, up 88%.
Is Forbes an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Forbes scores 1019 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 7 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Forbes?
Median household income in Forbes was $1,625 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,875 for the typical suburb in Mitchell. Median rent was $425 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,907 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bylands | 5.5 km | <1% | 100% |
| Springfield (Romsey) Macedon Ranges |
5.8 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Kilmore | 5.9 km | 5% | 88% |
| Willowmavin | 7.3 km | 0% | 100% |
| Goldie Macedon Ranges |
9.9 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Tantaraboo Macedon Ranges |
9.9 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Moranding | 10.4 km | <1% | 100% |
| Chintin Macedon Ranges |
10.5 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Darraweit Guim Macedon Ranges |
11.4 km | <1% | 100% |
| Kilmore East | 11.8 km | <1% | 100% |