Lake Gardens flood map & planning overlays
Lake Gardens is home to 1,801 people on 540 m² lots, median 51.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Lake Gardens
(Ballarat, VIC) - 1.19 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is relatively unconstrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
1.19 km² - this suburb is relatively unconstrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Lake Gardens'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 Lake Gardens
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 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 5,500 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.
Lake Gardens at a glance
How Lake Gardens is zoned
Selling in Lake Gardens? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 1.19 km², Lake Gardens is relatively unconstrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 2% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 4 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is General Residential Zone (GRZ1). The median lot measures about 540 m² across 918 parcels.
Who lives in Lake Gardens
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Lake Gardens 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 1038, and decile 8 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Lake Gardens's 1,801 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Ballarat, the wider ABS statistical area containing Lake Gardens. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Lake Gardens itself.
11,497 in 2001 to 11,668 in 2025, up 1%.
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.
Lake Gardens 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 Lake Gardens 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 45% of Lake Gardens. 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 Lake Gardens lot.
Lake Gardens planning - frequently asked
Is Lake Gardens flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Lake Gardens and none of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 8%).
Is Lake Gardens bushfire-prone?
Around 2% of Lake Gardens is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Ballarat average of 68%.
Is Lake Gardens under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 45% of Lake Gardens, and over about 100% 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 2,000 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 Lake Gardens?
The dominant planning zone in Lake Gardens is General Residential Zone (GRZ1), though the suburb also includes Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ) and Public Use Zone (PUZ2).
Does Lake Gardens have heritage-listed places?
Lake Gardens has 4 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Lake Gardens?
Across 918 surveyed parcels in Lake Gardens, the median lot size is about 540 m². There are also 232 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Lake Gardens have a train station?
Yes - Lake Gardens has 1 train station: Wendouree Station. It is also served by 6 bus stops.
What is the population of Lake Gardens?
At the 2021 Census Lake Gardens had 1,801 usual residents, with a median age of 51 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Ballarat statistical area, which contains Lake Gardens, went from 11,497 people in 2001 to 11,668 in 2025, up 1%.
Is Lake Gardens an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Lake Gardens scores 1038 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Lake Gardens?
Median household income in Lake Gardens was $1,534 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,680 for the typical suburb in Ballarat. Median rent was $360 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,733 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Wendouree | 1.6 km | 49% | 0% |
| Alfredton | 1.7 km | Not mapped | 2% |
| Newington | 2.0 km | 9% | 0% |
| Wendouree | 2.0 km | 0% | 16% |
| Ballarat Central | 3.2 km | 12% | <1% |
| Redan | 3.7 km | 18% | 11% |
| Soldiers Hill | 3.7 km | 6% | 0% |
| Delacombe | 3.9 km | 1% | 1% |
| Winter Valley | 4.1 km | Not mapped | 34% |
| Lucas | 4.3 km | Not mapped | 63% |