How to check whether a Bendigo house is in a Heritage Overlay before you book a painter

Why the check comes first

The City's amendment page says the Heritage Study recommends updates to four existing precincts, the inclusion of 12 new heritage precincts and the inclusion of 32 individual places assessed as being of local significance. It says the Minister for Planning approved the amendment with changes, that notice of approval was published in the Victorian Government Gazette on 28 May 2026, and that the changes came into effect on that date.

Approved with changes means the controls in force are the ones in the gazetted amendment, not necessarily the ones the study recommended. A map or a neighbour's memory from before May 2026 may be out of date.

The check

1. Create the report

   The City's heritage planning page says you can find out if your property is in a Heritage Overlay, and the overlay number, by creating a free Planning Property Report.

2. Read the result for the address

   A Heritage Overlay is applied place by place. The Planning Panels Victoria report on the Golden Square amendment says the Heritage Overlay enables its Schedule to specify additional controls, among them painting previously unpainted surfaces, so what applies to an address sits in the Schedule, which this site has not read.

3. Ask the City's heritage advisor

   The City's heritage planning page says that to understand the heritage significance of your property and your restoration and development options you can talk to its heritage advisor or read its Heritage Design Guidelines. If in doubt about a paint removal method, the guidelines say the same.

4. Give the painter the overlay number

   A quote that does not know the house is in an overlay may not allow for a permit step. Ask the provider whether the quote assumes the house is, or is not, in one.

5. Ask how old paint will come off

   The City's guidelines say to avoid sandblasting, disc sanding or other abrasive methods of paint removal that may damage the building material. The Lead Alert guide says not to remove paint by dry abrasive blast cleaning or dry mechanical sanding.

What could change

Planning controls change by amendment, and this article records the day the City's pages were read, 6 October 2026. Read the City's current heritage planning page on the day you book, and use the Planning Property Report for the address rather than this page.