Moreton Bay planning scheme maps: how to check a property

The City of Moreton Bay (formerly Moreton Bay Regional Council, or MBRC) publishes its planning scheme maps as free interactive maps on the council website, starting at moretonbay.qld.gov.au/mbrcplanningschememaps. To check a property, search the address, select the lot, then read the zone, precinct and overlay maps that apply to it. The council also has a "My property look up" tool for the same job. Here is how to use them, what the maps show, and what they leave out.

LayeredGeo is not part of the City of Moreton Bay or the Queensland Government. The council's planning scheme maps are free council tools and the right place to start for zoning and overlays in Moreton Bay.

Which planning scheme applies

The scheme in force is still the Moreton Bay Regional Council Planning Scheme, often called the MBRC Planning Scheme. Council adopted it on 24 November 2015 and it commenced on 1 February 2016. The council is now called the City of Moreton Bay, but the scheme keeps the older name.

In January 2026 council resolved to replace the scheme and began early community engagement. As at October 2026 there is no adopted new scheme, so the MBRC Planning Scheme remains the one that applies. Zoning and overlays can change when a new scheme arrives, so check the council's planning scheme page again if you are making a decision well into the future.

How to find a property on the council's planning maps

1. Open the council's planning scheme maps page. It links to the interactive map for zones, local plans and overlays, and to the PDF versions of each map.
2. For a property-level view, use My property look up from the council's MBRC Planning Scheme page. Enter the property address to see its zone and precinct and its overlay maps, with links to council information sheets.
3. In the interactive map, use the search box to find the address, then click the property. Zoom in and out to look at the lots next door as well as your own. A hazard that stops at the fence still tells you something about the street.
4. Check the lot on plan against your contract or rates notice, so you know you are looking at the right parcel.

Tip: the interactive maps are updated more often than the PDF maps. If the two disagree, council says the PDF maps in the planning scheme prevail.

What the map shows

The scheme has a zone map (zones and precincts), local plan maps for areas such as Redcliffe Kippa-Ring, Woodfordia and Caboolture West, and a long list of overlay maps. The overlays most useful to buyers are:

• Flood Hazard and Overland Flow Path, for land in a mapped flood area or on a likely path for water running over land.
• Coastal Hazard, covering the Erosion Prone Area and Storm Tide Inundation.
• Bushfire Hazard.
• Landslide Hazard.
• Acid Sulfate Soils.
• Heritage and Landscape Character.
• Environmental Areas, Riparian and Wetland Setbacks and Scenic Amenity.
• Building Height, Transport Noise Corridors, Infrastructure Buffers and Extractive Resources.

The zone tells you what the land can be used for and roughly what can be built. The overlays are where the surprises usually are, because each one brings its own rules for building, filling, clearing or subdividing. Our guide to checking a heritage listing before you buy covers what a heritage overlay can stop you doing.

Flood information in Moreton Bay

Moreton Bay has more than one flood source, and they are not the same thing:

• The Flood Hazard and Coastal Hazard overlay maps in the planning scheme.
• The Moreton Bay Flood Viewer, an address-searchable map of flood extent and depth for a high (5% AEP), medium (1% AEP) and low (0.1% AEP) likelihood flood, covering overland flow, storm tide, and river, creek and urban drainage flooding.
• The Flood check property report, a council document for an individual property. It describes the types of flooding the property may be exposed to and its flood immunity, which compares flood levels with ground and floor levels. Council describes it as the most reliable source for an individual property. You request it through a form linked from the council's Flood check page.

Council notes that the Flood Viewer maps differ from the overlay maps in the planning scheme, and that flood data is generally updated about every five years. For a suburb-level look, see our Moreton Bay flood map by suburb.

What it does not tell you

• It is not a planning or development approval. Council provides the maps as a general reference source only. Whether your extension, granny flat or subdivision needs approval depends on the scheme's assessment tables, which you read in the eScheme or ask council about.
• An overlay is not a flood depth. The Flood Hazard overlay shows the land is in a mapped area. For depths and flood immunity on a lot, look at the Flood Viewer and ask council for a Flood check property report.
• Land outside an overlay can still be affected. Council notes that trees, blockages and fences can change how water moves, and that new development fill can change levels after the data was produced.
• It does not include proposed changes. The replacement scheme is at an early stage, so nothing in it is on the current maps.
• Ground conditions. Soil reactivity, fill, geology and groundwater are not planning layers, yet they drive footing design and slab cost.
• Title matters. Easements, covenants and other interests on the title come from a title search, not the planning maps.

Putting the planning layers in one PDF

The council's maps are the official source, so start there. If you are comparing several properties, or want the planning layers plus other site data together in one document, LayeredGeo's Property Report pulls zoning, flood, bushfire, heritage, vegetation and environmental overlays for an address into a single PDF, with a map and a plain-English note for each, alongside contours, registered easements and the water, sewer and stormwater mains the utilities publish. The map preview is free and the PDF is $9. Pop in your address or check out a sample report.

If you are building, a separate geotechnical desktop study covers the geology, soils, indicative soil reactivity range and groundwater for the address. It does not replace a site investigation, which is what decides the site classification.

Common questions

What is the Moreton Bay planning scheme called now? It is still the Moreton Bay Regional Council Planning Scheme (MBRC Planning Scheme), in force since 1 February 2016. The council is now the City of Moreton Bay and resolved in January 2026 to replace the scheme, but no new scheme had been adopted as at October 2026.

How do I find the zoning of a property in Moreton Bay? Use My property look up on the council's planning scheme page, or search the address in the interactive zone, local plan and overlay map. Both show the zone and precinct, and the overlay maps that apply.

Does the Moreton Bay planning map show if a property floods? It shows the Flood Hazard, Overland Flow Path and Coastal Hazard overlays. For depth and flood immunity on a lot, council also offers the Moreton Bay Flood Viewer and a Flood check property report.

Which map wins if the interactive map and the PDF map disagree? Council says the PDF maps in the planning scheme prevail. The interactive maps are updated more often, but the PDF maps are the formal version.

LayeredGeo's Property Report pulls together public planning and site data for property due diligence across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, so you can understand a place before you commit.

About this article. Published by LayeredGeo and written from the published research cited in the Sources section above. It is general information about how property and ground conditions are assessed in Australia, not engineering, planning, legal or financial advice, and it is not specific to any property. Check anything that matters against the source dataset or a suitably qualified professional before you rely on it. If you spot something wrong, tell us at hello@layeredgeo.com.au and we will fix it.

← All articles