Gowanbrae flood map & planning overlays
Gowanbrae sweeps Merri-Bek: oldest median (40), top rent ($445), most environmental overlay.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Gowanbrae
(Merri-Bek, VIC) - 1.31 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
1.31 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Gowanbrae'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 Gowanbrae
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 4 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 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.
Gowanbrae at a glance
How Gowanbrae is zoned
Selling in Gowanbrae? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 1.31 km², Gowanbrae is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 11% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ1). The median lot measures about 451 m² across 1,216 parcels.
Who lives in Gowanbrae
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Gowanbrae 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 1067, and decile 9 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Gowanbrae's 2,971 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Gowanbrae, the wider ABS statistical area containing Gowanbrae. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Gowanbrae itself.
526 in 2001 to 3,215 in 2025, up 511%.
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.
Gowanbrae 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 Gowanbrae 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 100% of Gowanbrae. 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 Gowanbrae lot.
Gowanbrae planning - frequently asked
Is Gowanbrae flood-prone?
About 11% of Gowanbrae falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 14%.
Is Gowanbrae bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Gowanbrae and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone.
Is Gowanbrae under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Gowanbrae, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 20 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 Gowanbrae?
The dominant planning zone in Gowanbrae is Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ1), though the suburb also includes Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ) and Transport Zone (TRZ2).
Does Gowanbrae have heritage-listed places?
Gowanbrae has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
What is the typical lot size in Gowanbrae?
Across 1,216 surveyed parcels in Gowanbrae, the median lot size is about 451 m². There are also 638 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Gowanbrae have a train station?
There is no train station inside Gowanbrae itself. The suburb is served by 16 bus stops.
What is the population of Gowanbrae?
At the 2021 Census Gowanbrae had 2,971 usual residents, with a median age of 40 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Gowanbrae statistical area, which contains Gowanbrae, went from 526 people in 2001 to 3,215 in 2025, up 511%.
Is Gowanbrae an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Gowanbrae scores 1067 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Gowanbrae?
Median household income in Gowanbrae was $2,208 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,045 for the typical suburb in Merri-Bek. Median rent was $445 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gladstone Park Hume |
1.1 km | 8% | 0% |
| Strathmore Heights Moonee Valley |
1.4 km | 8% | 0% |
| Tullamarine Hume |
1.7 km | 2% | 3% |
| Jacana Hume |
1.9 km | 20% | 0% |
| Glenroy | 2.0 km | 10% | 0% |
| Essendon Fields Moonee Valley |
2.5 km | 0% | 0% |
| Oak Park | 2.6 km | 14% | 0% |
| Airport West Moonee Valley |
2.8 km | 4% | 0% |
| Westmeadows Hume |
3.0 km | 6% | 36% |
| Broadmeadows Hume |
3.7 km | 5% | 4% |