Nelson flood map & planning overlays
The VIC Nelson is Glenelg's oldest community, median 60.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Nelson
(Glenelg, VIC) - 225.29 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
225.29 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Nelson'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 Nelson
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
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.
Nelson at a glance
How Nelson is zoned
Selling in Nelson? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 225.29 km², Nelson 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 are 7 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ1). The median lot measures about 2,000 m² across 570 parcels.
Who lives in Nelson
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Nelson 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 978, and decile 4 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Nelson's 191 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Glenelg (Vic.), the wider ABS statistical area containing Nelson. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Nelson itself.
9,303 in 2001 to 8,773 in 2025, down 6%.
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.
Nelson 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 Nelson 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 →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 Nelson lot.
Nelson planning - frequently asked
Is Nelson flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Nelson and less than 1% of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 10%).
Is Nelson bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Nelson is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Glenelg average of 99%.
Is Nelson under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 3% of Nelson in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 4,000 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 Nelson?
The dominant planning zone in Nelson is Farming Zone (FZ1), though the suburb also includes Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ) and Transport Zone (TRZ2).
Does Nelson have heritage-listed places?
Nelson has 7 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Nelson?
Across 570 surveyed parcels in Nelson, the median lot size is about 2,000 m². There are also 21 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Nelson?
At the 2021 Census Nelson had 191 usual residents, with a median age of 60 and an average household size of 1.8 people. The wider Glenelg (Vic.) statistical area, which contains Nelson, went from 9,303 people in 2001 to 8,773 in 2025, down 6%.
Is Nelson an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Nelson scores 978 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 4 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Nelson?
Median household income in Nelson was $1,104 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,466 for the typical suburb in Glenelg. Median rent was $230 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,235 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drik Drik | 14.7 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Mumbannar | 16.4 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Mount Richmond | 17.8 km | 0% | 100% |
| Dartmoor | 23.1 km | 6% | 100% |
| Greenwald | 24.8 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Winnap | 29.2 km | 0% | 100% |
| Lyons | 30.6 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Drumborg | 30.8 km | 3% | 100% |
| Gorae West | 33.7 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Strathdownie | 37.8 km | 15% | 100% |