Fencing in Tecoma
Tecoma is a small town between Belgrave and Upwey with Sherbrooke Forest on its northern side, and one landscape overlay sets the fence rule for nearly every street.
We connect you with a local fencer who works in the hills.
Ask for a quoteDandenong Ranges. Photo: Tangerineduel, CC BY 4.0
One overlay for most of the town
Tecoma covers less than 2 km² between Belgrave and Upwey, and nearly every house block in it sits under the same landscape overlay, Yarra Ranges' township schedule SLO22. Its fence rule only reaches the front boundary: a front fence needs a planning permit unless it is under 1.2 m or more than 75% see-through. So a waist-high picket fence is fine, and so is a tall fence of open slats or mesh. A close-boarded fence at full height along the street is the one to ask about.
About 7% of Tecoma is under a Design and Development Overlay. Yarra Ranges' DDO14, whose schedule names Tecoma among the hills towns, gives guidance on fences rather than a permit trigger.
Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Tecoma, 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) and Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 43.02 (DDOs).
The height limit at the street
Yarra Ranges' residential zones set no front-fence height, so the building regulations decide. Within 3 m of the street, a fence over 1.5 m, or over 1.2 m in brick or concrete, needs a building permit. The regulations allow 2 m on a declared road. Side and back fences can go to 2 m without one. Fence permits sets the two permits side by side.
Checked 25 October 2026 against Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), authorised version 031 and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 62.02 (buildings and works).
Against Sherbrooke Forest
The northern edge of Tecoma runs against Sherbrooke Forest. The Crown doesn't share the cost of a fence with unalienated Crown land, and a council holding a public park isn't an owner under the Fences Act, so a boundary with the forest or a reserve is usually the householder's to fence alone. Between two private blocks the half-each rule applies; dividing fences covers the notice.
About one point in seven we measured was under an environmental overlay. If your property report shows ESO1, its wording on fences is unclear, so ask Yarra Ranges planning before you build. The Heritage Overlay touches two places in Tecoma, and on one of those a fence visible from a street or a park needs a permit.
About 6% of Tecoma is under the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay. Any fence there needs a planning permit, as other buildings and works do.
Checked 25 October 2026 against Wikipedia: Tecoma, Victoria, Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb, Fences Act 1968 (Vic), authorised version 072, Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.01 (ESO1, ESO2), Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay) and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 44.04 (Land Subject to Inundation Overlay).
Clearing along an old fence
All of Tecoma is under the Bushfire Management Overlay. Along a boundary fence built before 10 September 2009 you may clear vegetation 4 m wide, both sides combined, without a planning permit. The details are in clearing a fence line.
Every overlay on your block is named in a free VicPlan property report.
Checked 25 October 2026 against Vicmap Planning, the state's zone and overlay maps (DataVic), measured across the suburb and Victoria Planning Provisions, Clause 52.12 (bushfire protection exemptions).
Over the boundary
- Sherbrooke, Ferny Creek and Belgrave Heights
- Mostly the ranges overlay SLO1, which applies to any fence, not only the front: a permit unless under 1.8 m and more than 75% see-through.
Checked 25 October 2026 against Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme, Schedules to Clause 42.03 (SLO1–6, SLO22, SLO23).
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