What’s permitted in RURAL CONSERVATION ZONE
Victoria Planning Provisions · cl 35.06 · as at 19 August 2026
This is Victoria’s standard state rule for this zone. Your council can vary it in their own planning scheme — those local changes are not on this page, so check with them.
Victoria attaches a condition to most permit-free uses (a size limit, for example), and most of those conditions are not shown here. So “permit-free” usually comes with a catch is not shown here — check the zone’s own wording before relying on this. If the condition isn’t met, you’d simply need a permit, not that the use becomes banned.
The land use table
These are the planning scheme’s official terms. A close match tells you the rule for that term; whether your project counts as that term is a judgement call.
Section 1 — permit not required 9
No permit required
- Bed and breakfast
- Domestic animal husbandry
- Home based business
- Informal outdoor recreation
- Poultry farm
- Racing dog husbandry
- Railway
- Tramway
- Any use listed in Clause M 62.01
Section 2 — permit required 26
Planning Permit
- Agriculture (other than Apiculture, Domestic animal husbandry, Intensive animal production, Poultry farm, Racing dog husbandry, Rice growing and Timber production)
- Broiler farm - if the Section 1 condition to Poultry farm is not metif the Section 1 condition to Poultry farm is not met
- Car park
- Domestic animal boarding
- Dwelling (other than Bed and breakfast)
- Emergency services facility
- Freezing and cool storage
- Group accommodation
- Host farm
- Landscape gardening supplies
- Market
- Primary produce sales
- Primary school
- Racing dog husbandry - if the Section 1 condition is not metif the Section 1 condition is not met
- Recreational boat facility
- Renewable energy facility (other than Wind energy facility)
- Residential hotel
- Restaurant
- Rural industry (other than Abattoir and Sawmill)
- Rural store
- Secondary school
- Small second dwelling
- Timber production
- Utility installation (other than Minor utility installation and Telecommunications facility)
- Wind energy facility
- Winery
Section 3 — prohibited 14
- Abattoir
- Accommodation (other than Bed and breakfast, Dwelling, Group accommodation, Host farm, Residential hotel and Small second dwelling)
- Amusement parlour
- Education centre (other than Primary school and Secondary school)
- Industry (other than Rural industry)
- Intensive animal production
- Office
- Leisure and recreation (other than Informal outdoor recreation)
- Place of assembly (other than Carnival and Circus)
- Retail premises (other than Landscape gardening supplies, Market, Primary produce sales and Restaurant)
- Rice growing
- Sawmill
- Transport terminal
- Warehouse (other than Freezing and cool storage and Rural store)
Anything not named below is treated as “Section 2 — permit required”. That is not the same as being on the list.
Your council can vary this table in their own local planning scheme — we don’t hold that local version.
Overlays and other specific rules can still require a permit for a use this table shows as permit-free.
Check a property in Victoria
This page is the table for the zone. Search an address to see whether this zone actually covers the lot, or open the Victoria zoning map.
Other zones in Victoria Planning Provisions
Building rules
Frequently asked questions
Does this RURAL CONSERVATION ZONE table apply to my property in Victoria?
It is the state standard for this zone. Your council can vary it in their scheme, and those local changes are not on this page. Search your address, then confirm with the council.
Can I assume my project is one of the terms listed for RURAL CONSERVATION ZONE?
No. The list uses the planning scheme’s official names. Whether your project counts as one of those names is a judgement call — that’s what a planner is for.
If a use is not listed in RURAL CONSERVATION ZONE, is it prohibited in Victoria?
Not by itself. Unlisted uses follow this zone’s fallback (“Section 2 — permit required”). That is different from being named on the list.
Sources
General guidance only — not planning advice. This is the land use table from Victoria Planning Provisions, sourced 19 August 2026. It does not decide what your project is, and overlays can still change what you need to apply for.
Talk to a town planner in Victoria
This page covers the general rules. A qualified town planner can tell you what applies to your actual block — the zone, the overlays and the approval path — before you spend money on drawings.
- Qualified, practising town planners
- Advice on your property, not a generic rule
- No cost, no obligation