Palmers Island flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Palmers Island
(Clarence Valley, NSW) - 34.85 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
34.85 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Palmers Island's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Palmers Island
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 far less often than day and nothing can be concluded 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.
Palmers Island at a glance
How Palmers Island is zoned
Buying in Palmers Island? 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 34.85 km², Palmers Island is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 98% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 80% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 10 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Primary Production. The median lot measures about 4,000 m² across 318 parcels.
Who lives in Palmers Island
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Palmers Island 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 995, and decile 5 within New South Wales. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Palmers Island's 482 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Maclean - Yamba - Iluka, the wider ABS statistical area containing Palmers Island. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Palmers Island itself.
14,359 in 2001 to 18,562 in 2025, up 29%.
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.
Palmers Island 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 Palmers Island 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 Palmers Island lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Palmers Island planning - frequently asked
Is Palmers Island flood-prone?
About 98% of Palmers Island falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 24%.
Is Palmers Island bushfire-prone?
Around 80% of Palmers Island is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Clarence Valley average of 94%.
Is Palmers Island under a flight path?
No aircraft were observed over Palmers Island 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 Palmers Island?
The dominant planning zone in Palmers Island is Primary Production, though the suburb also includes Rural Landscape and Recreational Waterways.
Does Palmers Island have heritage-listed places?
Palmers Island has 10 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Palmers Island?
Across 318 surveyed parcels in Palmers Island, the median lot size is about 4,000 m². There are also 4 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Palmers Island have a train station?
There is no train station inside Palmers Island itself. The suburb is served by 17 bus stops.
What is the population of Palmers Island?
At the 2021 Census Palmers Island had 482 usual residents, with a median age of 49 and an average household size of 2.6 people. The wider Maclean - Yamba - Iluka statistical area, which contains Palmers Island, went from 14,359 people in 2001 to 18,562 in 2025, up 29%.
Is Palmers Island an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Palmers Island scores 995 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within New South Wales (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Palmers Island?
Median household income in Palmers Island was $1,404 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,187 for the typical suburb in Clarence Valley. Median rent was $313 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,733 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Micalo Island | 3.3 km | 100% | 93% |
| Palmers Channel | 3.4 km | 97% | 98% |
| Harwood | 4.0 km | 99% | 80% |
| James Creek | 4.7 km | 56% | 94% |
| Yamba | 5.7 km | 75% | 29% |
| Chatsworth | 5.8 km | 99% | 93% |
| Freeburn Island | 6.1 km | 99% | 46% |
| Wooloweyah | 6.6 km | 97% | 20% |
| Townsend | 6.8 km | 46% | 73% |
| Goodwood Island | 6.8 km | 100% | 64% |