Is my Pascoe Vale home at flood risk?

VICSES names homes in Coburg North and Pascoe Vale along the Merlynston Main Drain as at risk in larger floods. Its Merri-bek local flood guide includes a map, so check it for your street.

What does Merri-bek need before I remove a tree that's damaging my drain?

A Tree Works Permit application if the tree is mature or on the register, plus a licensed plumber's or engineer's report showing the tree is the cause. The owner arranges that report, and Council says it isn't a quote.

Plumbers in Pascoe Vale: drain flooding, semis and trees

Plumbers in Pascoe Vale Drains, semis, big trees.

Pascoe Vale is in Merri-bek, nearly half its homes are semis, terraces or townhouses, and Yarra Valley Water supplies the water and sewer. Homes along the Merlynston Main Drain carry a known flood risk in big storms. Tell us what's wrong, and a licence-checked plumber who specialises in it can take the job.

Pascoe Vale facts behind a plumbing job

Nearly half semis and townhouses

At the 2021 Census, 48.8% of occupied homes in the suburb were semis, terraces or townhouses, against 13.9% for Victoria. 47.9% were separate houses, and 34.8% of homes were rented.

The Merlynston Main Drain

VICSES's Merri-bek guide puts 149 homes in Coburg North and Pascoe Vale along the Merlynston Main Drain at risk in a 1% chance flood, and 86 at the 5% level.

48 registered trees

Merri-bek's Significant Tree Register has 48 entries for Pascoe Vale, among them lemon-scented gums, sugar gums, river red gums, oaks and Norfolk Island pines.

Low hardness

The suburb falls in Yarra Valley Water's Glenroy and Preston sampling areas, which averaged 17 and 18 mg/L hardness in 2025-26.

Along the Merlynston Main Drain

VICSES says parts of Merri-bek are so built up that rain doesn't soak into the ground easily and stormwater drains can overflow in heavy storms. Its figures are tied to the Fawkner gauge in Sussex Street: at 3.13 m, the 1% flood, 149 homes in Coburg North and Pascoe Vale are at risk; at 2.79 m, the 5% level, 86 homes.

If you're near the drain, check the guide's map before building or relandscaping, and keep your own pits, downpipes and stormwater line clear so they aren't adding to the problem. A stormwater plumber can test a line that's slow to empty.

Trees on the register

A tree on the Significant Tree Register needs a Tree Works Permit to remove, as does any mature tree: 8 m or taller with a trunk over 40 cm across, measured 1.2 m up. Pruning more than 15% of the canopy needs one too.

Where roots are the reason, Merri-bek wants a licensed plumber's or engineer's report proving the tree is doing the damage, and that evidence can include hand excavation around the pipes. A tree roots specialist can do the inspection, and pipe relining is worth pricing before the tree goes.

Semis and the sewer

Two homes on one block can share a sewer or stormwater line, so settle who pays with the neighbour before anyone digs. Yarra Valley Water owns the meter and stop tap, and everything after the meter is the owner's. Its two published versions of the sewer boundary differ, so ask it directly where its part ends for your address.

What we would do

If you're close to the Merlynston Main Drain, spend ten minutes with the VICSES guide map, then clear your own pits and gutters before winter. If a drain under a big tree keeps blocking, get a camera inspection and a written report before you talk to Council about the tree. Send us the job when you're ready; only the plumber who accepts it sees your contact details.