Flight Rules an aircraft shall not fly at a height of less than 1000 feet above the highest
obstacle within a distance of 5 nautical miles of the aircraft unless:
(a) it is necessary for the aircraft to do so in order to take off or land;
(b) the aircraft is flying on a route notified for the purposes of this rule;
(c) the aircraft has been otherwise authorised by the competent authority; or
(d) the aircraft is flying at an altitude not exceeding 3000 feet above mean sea level
and remains clear of cloud and in sight of the surface.
In VMC in non-mountain areas (d) above effectively removes the minimum height rule.
It is only in cases where you are flying above 3000 feet and the terrain/obstacle is above 2000 feet that it kicks in. (interesting that flying 500 feet above a 2490 hill in VMC complies with the IFR minimum height rule but flying 520 feet above it doesn't, also it appears that an IFR pilot can due this at 250 knots but a VFR pilot is limited to 140 knots)