Areas / Colac Otway / Forrest

Forrest flood map & planning overlays

Forrest: 7,940 m² lots, 5 heritage places, 10.8% 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 Forrest (Colac Otway, VIC) - 43.05 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 Forrest'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 Forrest

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
17%
of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft
Below 3,000 ft
11%
of the suburb's area
Lowest measured
1,500 ft
averaging 3,500 ft
How often
not established
aircraft were seen, but not often enough to put a rate on

Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.

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.

Forrest at a glance

Parcels 484 Median lot 7,940 m² Mapped easements 96 Bus stops 2

How Forrest is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 57%
Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 36%
Public Use Zone (PUZ1) 4%
Transport Zone (TRZ2) 1%
Township Zone (TZ) 1%
Rural Living Zone (RLZ) 0%

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

Across its 43.05 km², Forrest is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 11% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 5 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 7,940 m² across 484 parcels.

Who lives in Forrest

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

Population
257
usual residents, 2021
Median age
52
years
Median household income
$1,091
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $1,443
Median rent
$290
per week, Colac Otway suburb typical $239
Median mortgage
$1,509
per month
Household size
2.1
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 6
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 993, and decile 5 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 5
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Forrest's 257 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 3.9%
5-14 10.1%
15-19 2.7%
20-24 3.9%
25-34 11.3%
35-44 10.1%
45-54 12.8%
55-64 22.2%
65-74 15.2%
75-84 6.2%
85+ 1.6%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

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

3,452 in 2001 to 3,974 in 2025, up 15%.

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.

Forrest 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 Forrest 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 Forrest. 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 Forrest lot.

Forrest planning - frequently asked

Is Forrest flood-prone?

About 11% of Forrest falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%.

Is Forrest bushfire-prone?

Around 100% of Forrest is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Colac Otway average of 97%.

Is Forrest under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 11% of Forrest, and over about 17% 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 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 Forrest?

The dominant planning zone in Forrest is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and Public Use Zone (PUZ1).

Does Forrest have heritage-listed places?

Forrest has 5 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Forrest?

Across 484 surveyed parcels in Forrest, the median lot size is about 7,940 m². There are also 96 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Forrest have a train station?

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

What is the population of Forrest?

At the 2021 Census Forrest had 257 usual residents, with a median age of 52 and an average household size of 2.1 people. The wider Otway statistical area, which contains Forrest, went from 3,452 people in 2001 to 3,974 in 2025, up 15%.

Is Forrest an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Forrest scores 993 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Forrest?

Median household income in Forrest was $1,091 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,443 for the typical suburb in Colac Otway. Median rent was $290 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,509 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Gerangamete 6.5 km 18% 100%
Barwon Downs 6.9 km 4% 100%
Barramunga 7.9 km 1% 100%
Kawarren 9.3 km <1% 100%
Barongarook 11.9 km <1% 100%
Murroon 12.4 km 9% 100%
Yeodene 13.0 km 3% 100%
Gellibrand 13.1 km 6% 100%
Mount Sabine 14.1 km Not mapped 100%
Tanybryn 16.1 km Not mapped 100%

See all Colac Otway suburb profiles →