Safety Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Safety Beach
(Coffs Harbour, NSW) - 1.48 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 3 October 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
1.48 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Safety Beach'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 Safety Beach
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 2 Oct 2026
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.
Safety Beach at a glance
How Safety Beach is zoned
Buying in Safety Beach? 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 1.48 km², Safety Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 35% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 69% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Private Recreation. The median lot measures about 721 m² across 495 parcels.
Who lives in Safety Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Safety Beach 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 1028, and decile 7 within New South Wales. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Safety Beach's 1,103 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Woolgoolga - Arrawarra, the wider ABS statistical area containing Safety Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Safety Beach itself.
10,248 in 2001 to 15,229 in 2025, up 49%.
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.
Safety Beach 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 3 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 Safety Beach 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.
Published flood models are held over parts of Safety Beach. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Safety Beach lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Safety Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Safety Beach flood-prone?
About 35% of Safety Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 21%. Published flood models are held over parts of Safety Beach; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Safety Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 69% of Safety Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Coffs Harbour average of 88%.
Is Safety Beach under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 2% of Safety Beach in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 3,500 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 Safety Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Safety Beach is Private Recreation, though the suburb also includes Low Density Residential and National Parks and Nature Reserves.
Does Safety Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Safety Beach.
What is the typical lot size in Safety Beach?
Across 495 surveyed parcels in Safety Beach, the median lot size is about 721 m². There are also 3 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Safety Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Safety Beach itself. The suburb is served by 20 bus stops.
What is the population of Safety Beach?
At the 2021 Census Safety Beach had 1,103 usual residents, with a median age of 46 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Woolgoolga - Arrawarra statistical area, which contains Safety Beach, went from 10,248 people in 2001 to 15,229 in 2025, up 49%.
Is Safety Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Safety Beach scores 1028 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 7 within New South Wales (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Safety Beach?
Median household income in Safety Beach was $1,837 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,550 for the typical suburb in Coffs Harbour. Median rent was $500 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,058 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mullaway | 0.9 km | 9% | 90% |
| Arrawarra Headland | 2.9 km | 12% | 93% |
| Woolgoolga | 2.9 km | 7% | 89% |
| Arrawarra | 4.6 km | 58% | 92% |
| Sandy Beach | 5.9 km | 28% | 74% |
| Corindi Beach | 8.1 km | 36% | 96% |
| Emerald Beach | 8.3 km | 24% | 96% |
| Upper Corindi | 8.7 km | 8% | 97% |
| Red Rock | 10.7 km | 50% | 96% |
| Bucca | 11.5 km | 13% | 96% |