Fencing in Ferntree Gully

The 1960s estates

Parts of Ferntree Gully were still farmland in the mid-1950s. The Mountain Gate Estate opened in 1959, sold as a "town of a thousand homes", and most houses in the Johnson Park and Fairhills estates were built in the 1960s. Kent Park followed when Hooker-Rex Estates bought 44 hectares for housing in the late 1960s.

A fence built or renovated before 1990 may contain asbestos. If yours is a grey sheet fence from those decades, have it tested before it is cut, drilled or knocked down. Builders generally aren't licensed to remove asbestos; asbestos fences says who is.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Asbestos in Victoria: where is asbestos? and Asbestos in Victoria: homeowners and renovators.

How high at the front

About two thirds of the suburb is zoned Neighbourhood Residential, and Knox's schedules for that zone set the front fence limit: 1.2 m on most streets, 2 m on a main road zoned Transport Zone 2. A taller fence within 3 m of the street needs a building permit. A few pockets are in other residential schedules, so confirm your zone on the property report.

About two fifths of the suburb, mostly toward the hills, is under Knox's landscape overlays, SLO2 (the foothills backdrop and ridgeline) and SLO3. Both ask for a planning permit for a front fence unless it is 1.2 m or less and more than 50% see-through, and for a side fence between the house and the street unless it is 1.2 m or less. A back fence is outside their rule.

Knox's ESO3 and its design overlays DDO1, DDO2 and DDO5 have no fence trigger. We haven't read ESO2 or the vegetation overlay VPO4, so ask Knox if your report lists either. In the flood overlay, the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay, on about 4% of the suburb, any fence needs a planning permit. Your property report lists the overlays on your block.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Knox Planning Scheme, Clause 32.09 schedules (front fence height), Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), authorised version 031, Knox Planning Scheme, Schedules 2, 3 and 4 to Clause 42.03, Knox Planning Scheme, schedules to Clauses 42.01, 42.02 and 43.02 and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 44.04 (Land Subject to Inundation Overlay).

Back fences between neighbours

On a suburban block the usual job is a shared paling fence. Under the Fences Act each neighbour pays half of a sufficient fence, and works start with agreement or a written fencing notice. If one owner wants something better than the other needs, that owner pays the extra. Dividing fences sets out the notice and the 30-day wait.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Fences Act 1968 (Vic), authorised version 072 and Victorian Government: fencing notice (and the standard and urgent notice forms).

The park boundary

The suburb's eastern edge follows the national park, and the suburb is in a high fire risk area near it. The Crown doesn't contribute to a fence along the park. Only a small share of the suburb has a Bushfire Management Overlay; in a Bushfire Prone Area, vegetation along a fence built before 10 September 2009 can be cleared 4 m wide, both sides together, without a planning permit.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Fences Act 1968 (Vic), authorised version 072 and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).

Heritage places

Four places in Ferntree Gully are on Knox's Heritage Overlay. On one of them, a fence that can be seen from a street or public park needs a planning permit.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay).

Up the hill and over the park

Upper Ferntree Gully

Two thirds Knox, mostly under SLO2's front and side fence test. The Yarra Ranges third has its own landscape schedules.

Tremont

Yarra Ranges, and mostly national park. Its private blocks are under SLO1, where any fence needs a permit unless under 1.8 m and more than 75% see-through.

Checked 25 October 2026 against Knox Planning Scheme, Schedules 2, 3 and 4 to Clause 42.03 and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.03 (SLO1–6, SLO22, SLO23).