Dairy Arm flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Dairy Arm
(Cessnock, NSW) - 24.86 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 2 October 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
24.86 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Dairy Arm's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Dairy Arm
Two different things, kept apart on purpose. The ANEF contour is the planning instrument - a forecast published per airport that planning schemes use to control noise-sensitive development. Observed overflight is what a sampled aircraft-tracking feed actually recorded over the suburb - where aircraft flew, how low and how often.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 25 Sep 2026
Night movements: observed, lowest 8,500 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Dairy Arm at a glance
How Dairy Arm is zoned
Buying in Dairy Arm? The zoning, flood and bushfire lines on the section 10.7 certificate attached to the contract are mapped controls - see our s10.7 certificate guide.
Across its 24.86 km², Dairy Arm is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 11% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural Landscape. The median lot measures about 186,972 m² across 82 parcels.
Who lives in Dairy Arm
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Dairy Arm suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 1003, and decile 6 within New South Wales. The national average is 1000.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Cessnock Surrounds, the wider ABS statistical area containing Dairy Arm. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Dairy Arm itself.
6,288 in 2001 to 9,974 in 2025, up 59%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Dairy Arm data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Zoning | Mapped | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | NSW Government spatial services, NSW ePlanning and published council flood studies, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 2 October 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Dairy Arm address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Dairy Arm lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Dairy Arm planning - frequently asked
Is Dairy Arm flood-prone?
About 11% of Dairy Arm falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 17%.
Is Dairy Arm bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Dairy Arm is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Cessnock average of 91%.
Is Dairy Arm under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 41% of Dairy Arm in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 2,500 ft. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Dairy Arm?
The dominant planning zone in Dairy Arm is Rural Landscape, though the suburb also includes Forestry and Environmental Conservation.
Does Dairy Arm have heritage-listed places?
Dairy Arm has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
What is the typical lot size in Dairy Arm?
Across 82 surveyed parcels in Dairy Arm, the median lot size is about 186,972 m². There are also 10 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Is Dairy Arm an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Dairy Arm scores 1003 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within New South Wales (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murrays Run | 3.4 km | 16% | 100% |
| Fernances Crossing | 5.4 km | 10% | 100% |
| Watagan | 6.1 km | 12% | 100% |
| Bucketty | 6.3 km | 2% | 100% |
| Laguna | 10.1 km | 7% | 100% |
| Corrabare | 12.6 km | 2% | 100% |
| Ravensdale Central Coast |
12.8 km | 2% | 99% |
| Wollombi | 12.9 km | 16% | 100% |
| Congewai | 13.3 km | 20% | 99% |
| Olney | 13.3 km | 2% | 100% |