Fencing in Coldstream

Ninety-five per cent farmland

Coldstream is green wedge almost from edge to edge, with several farms and the Chandon winery around a small township that grew up after the railway came in 1888. Most of the flats are under SLO2, the open valley overlay, and the rest under SLO6. Under both, a fence needs a planning permit unless it is a rural post and open-weave wire fence under 1.8 m. A solid or close-mesh fence along a paddock is a permit question.

More than a quarter of the locality is under the flood overlay, and there any fence needs a planning permit, post and wire included. About a sixth has ESO1, whose fence wording is unclear, so ask Yarra Ranges planning if your report shows it.

Between two farms the cost of a sufficient fence is shared equally, and the state's example of one is a wire and post fence. Farm fencing covers barbed wire and wildlife.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Coldstream, Victoria, Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.03 (SLO1–6, SLO22, SLO23), Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 44.04 (Land Subject to Inundation Overlay), Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.01 (ESO1, ESO2), Fences Act 1968 (Vic), authorised version 072 and Victorian Government: fencing in Victoria.

In the township

Most of the township's houses are under SLO22, which needs a planning permit for a front fence unless it is under 1.2 m or more than 75% see-through. A small pocket is under SLO23, which has no fence rule.

Every house block is also in a Design and Development Overlay. The SLO23 pocket carries DDO19, one of Yarra Ranges' design overlays written for Coldstream: it needs a permit for a fence on a lot under 800 m² or a lot with more than one dwelling, and a front fence facing parkland is to be no more than 1.2 m and at least 75% see-through. Your property report gives the overlay's number; if it is DDO19, that rule is yours.

Look your lot up on VicPlan before choosing a design.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.03 (SLO1–6, SLO22, SLO23) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 43.02 (DDOs).

Heritage on the highways

Two places on the Victorian Heritage Register sit beside the Melba Highway: Chateau Yering, now a hotel, and Coombe Cottage, Dame Nellie Melba's home from 1909 to 1931, at the junction with the Maroondah Highway. Coldstream has five heritage places on the planning map. In a Heritage Overlay, a fence that can be seen from a street or a public park needs a planning permit.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Coldstream, Victoria, Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedule to Clause 43.01 (heritage places).

The valley either side

Yering

The same SLO2 flats, with no township.

Lilydale

A town, with streets split between SLO22 and SLO23, and SLO6 on its green wedge.

Gruyere

Farmland, under SLO6 at its centre.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.03 (SLO1–6, SLO22, SLO23).