Sunshine Coast interactive mapping: how to check a property

Sunshine Coast Council's interactive mapping is a free set of online maps run by the council, reached through its Sunshine Coast MyMaps page at sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au. To check a property, you search the address or lot and plan, select the land, and read the zone and the overlay maps that apply. The council also has a Development.i site report for property-level development information. Here is how to find a property, what the maps show, and what they leave out.

LayeredGeo is not part of Sunshine Coast Council or the Queensland Government. The council's mapping is a free council tool and the right place to start for Sunshine Coast zoning and planning overlays.

Which planning scheme the maps show

At the time of writing, the council's mapping pages are still set out under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014. The council is preparing a new planning scheme to replace it. Formal consultation on the proposed scheme closed in September 2025, and the council says its review of submissions is expected to continue well into 2026. We could not find a commencement date, so check the council's new planning scheme project page for the current position before you rely on any zone or overlay.

How to find a property

1. Go to the council's Sunshine Coast mapping - MyMaps page. It links to the council's maps, including a property information map where you can search for your address or lot plan details.
2. Open the map you want and use the search box to enter the street address, or the lot and plan from the contract or listing.
3. Pick the match, then select the property on the map. Use the layers control to switch layers on and off and to choose between street and aerial base maps.
4. Read the zone, then turn on the overlay layers one at a time. Look at the lots next door as well as your own, because an overlay that stops at the fence still tells you something about the street.

The council also publishes a MyMaps User Guide (PDF) on the same page. If a button looks different from what you expect, the guide is the official reference, and the council has a MyMaps team email on the page.

Tip: the council also publishes the planning scheme maps as a numbered set of map tiles. If you only want to see one overlay for an area, the tiles are an alternative to the interactive map.

What the map shows

The council's published overlay layers for the planning scheme include:

• Zoning, which sets what the land can be used for and roughly what can be built.
• Flood hazard, the planning scheme's flood overlay.
• Bushfire hazard.
• Landslide hazard and steep land (slope).
• Coastal protection.
• Acid sulfate soils.
• Biodiversity, waterways and wetlands.
• Heritage and character areas.

Local plan areas carry further overlays, such as height of buildings and scenic amenity. The council's layers are published for planning purposes, so treat them as a guide to what the planning scheme says rather than a survey of the land.

Flood is the one most buyers ask about. For a suburb-by-suburb look at where flood overlays and mapped flood areas fall, see our Sunshine Coast flood map by suburb.

What it does not tell you

• It is not a planning certificate. The maps are a viewer. The council's searches page lists a planning and development search, which is applied for through a form and paid for. Search applications are not accepted without payment.
• Flood overlay is not flood depth. A flood hazard overlay says the land is in a mapped area. For flood depth and historic flood levels, the council offers a Flood Search Certificate. Check the council's current fee and turnaround, which the council says can run to several weeks when it is busy.
• It does not cover a proposed scheme. If the new planning scheme changes a zone or overlay, the current maps will not show it until the new scheme takes effect.
• Ground conditions. Soil reactivity, geology, fill and groundwater are not planning layers. They drive footing design and slab cost.
• Title matters. Easements, covenants and other interests come from the title, not the planning maps.

Putting the planning layers in one PDF

The council's mapping is the official source, so start there. If you are comparing several properties, or want the planning layers plus other site data 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

Is Sunshine Coast interactive mapping free? Yes. The council's MyMaps maps are free to use, and you can search an address or lot and plan and switch layers on and off without paying. Formal searches such as a planning and development search or a Flood Search Certificate are paid.

Which planning scheme applies on the Sunshine Coast? The council's mapping pages are set out under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014. A new planning scheme is being prepared to replace it, and consultation closed in September 2025. Check the council's project page for the current status.

How do I check if a Sunshine Coast property floods? Turn on the flood hazard layer in the council's mapping and select the property. The map shows the planning overlay, not modelled depth. For flood depth and historic flood levels, the council issues a Flood Search Certificate.

Is the interactive map the same as a planning certificate? No. The map is a viewer for the planning scheme layers. A planning and development search is a separate council service, applied for with a form and paid for.

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.

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