Minnie Water flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Minnie Water
(Clarence Valley, NSW) - 55.86 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 26 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
55.86 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Minnie Water's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Minnie Water
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 to
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
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.
Minnie Water at a glance
How Minnie Water is zoned
Buying in Minnie Water? 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 55.86 km², Minnie Water is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 5 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is National Parks and Nature Reserves. The median lot measures about 696 m² across 202 parcels.
Who lives in Minnie Water
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Minnie Water 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 959, and decile 3 within New South Wales. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Minnie Water's 212 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Grafton Surrounds, the wider ABS statistical area containing Minnie Water. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Minnie Water itself.
14,917 in 2001 to 18,099 in 2025, up 21%.
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.
Minnie Water 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 26 September 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 Minnie Water 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.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Minnie Water lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Minnie Water planning - frequently asked
Is Minnie Water flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Minnie Water and none of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 24%).
Is Minnie Water bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Minnie Water is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Clarence Valley average of 94%.
Is Minnie Water under a flight path?
No aircraft were observed over Minnie Water in the period sampled (recent weeks to now). Sampling is intermittent, so that is a floor rather than proof that none fly over. 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 Minnie Water?
The dominant planning zone in Minnie Water is National Parks and Nature Reserves, though the suburb also includes Public Recreation and Natural Waterways.
Does Minnie Water have heritage-listed places?
Minnie Water has 5 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Minnie Water?
Across 202 surveyed parcels in Minnie Water, the median lot size is about 696 m². There are also 1 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Minnie Water have a train station?
There is no train station inside Minnie Water itself. The suburb is served by 24 bus stops.
What is the population of Minnie Water?
At the 2021 Census Minnie Water had 212 usual residents, with a median age of 59 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Grafton Surrounds statistical area, which contains Minnie Water, went from 14,917 people in 2001 to 18,099 in 2025, up 21%.
Is Minnie Water an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Minnie Water scores 959 and sits in decile 4 of 10 nationally and decile 3 within New South Wales (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Minnie Water?
Median household income in Minnie Water was $1,140 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,187 for the typical suburb in Clarence Valley. Median rent was $290 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,300 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bookram | 4.9 km | 0% | 100% |
| Lake Hiawatha | 6.3 km | 0% | 55% |
| Diggers Camp | 7.6 km | 0% | 100% |
| Sandon | 8.1 km | 0% | 100% |
| The Sandon | 9.1 km | 0% | 98% |
| Wooli | 9.7 km | 17% | 96% |
| Pillar Valley | 11.0 km | 4% | 100% |
| Brooms Head | 14.5 km | 0% | 99% |
| Sandy Crossing | 16.3 km | 0% | 100% |
| Tucabia | 16.6 km | 46% | 98% |