Heathcote flood map & planning overlays

The schematic on this page is a Heathcote flood map: the mapped flood overlays drawn over the suburb's terrain and street grid, covering about 2% of the suburb. Flood lines vary block to block, so for a specific property use the free interactive map - search any Heathcote address and it shows the flood, zoning and bushfire mapping on the exact lot boundary.

About 2% of Heathcote falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 8%. Flood overlays vary block to block, so whether a particular lot is affected needs a property-level check.

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

The dominant planning zone in Heathcote is Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ), though the suburb also includes Farming Zone (FZ1) and Rural Living Zone (RLZ2). Zoning sets what you can build and do on a site, and can differ lot by lot.

Heathcote has 62 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 2,945 surveyed parcels in Heathcote, the median lot size is about 3,734 m². There are also 686 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 Heathcote itself. The suburb is served by 7 bus stops.

At the 2021 Census Heathcote had 2,962 usual residents, with a median age of 57 and an average household size of 2.0 people. The wider Heathcote statistical area, which contains Heathcote, went from 3,895 people in 2001 to 5,382 in 2025, up 38%. ABS publishes no annual population series for individual suburbs, so that trend describes the surrounding area rather than Heathcote alone.

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Heathcote scores 907 and sits in decile 2 of 10 nationally and decile 1 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 Heathcote was $946 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,543 for the typical suburb in Greater Bendigo. Median rent was $255 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,291 a month. These are 2021 Census figures and have not been indexed to today.

A Heathcote 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.