Coolum Beach flood map & planning overlays
Coolum Beach: 9,152 residents, 44 flights a day overhead, 79.2% flood-mapped.
Most lots here are flood-mapped. The free check shows how much of one lot the overlay covers.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Coolum Beach
(Sunshine Coast Regional, QLD) - 27.31 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
27.31 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Coolum 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
How common is mapped flood risk across Coolum Beach properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 6,425 analysed Coolum Beach properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 6,425 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Coolum Beach.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Coolum Beach
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Inside an aircraft noise contour
<1% of the suburb's land sits inside a published ANEF or airport-environs contour. Contours vary street by street, so whether a particular lot is inside one needs a property-level check.
Highest contour present
Under AS 2021, land between ANEF 20 and 25 is conditionally acceptable for houses, usually with noise attenuation built in. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.
Contours held
- Sunshine Coast Airport ANEF
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 1,000 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.
How this is measured
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.
Coolum Beach at a glance
Schools in and near Coolum Beach
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
1 school providing primary years and 2 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: inside the suburb
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time; use the official catchment finder for a specific address.
How Coolum Beach is zoned
Selling in Coolum Beach? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 27.31 km², Coolum Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 79% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 55% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Environmental Management and Conservation. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 622 m² across 6,403 parcels.
Recent development applications in Coolum Beach
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Sunshine Coast Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 23 October 2026.
Previous 12 months: 51 (6% higher in the latest period).
Counts depend on applications that the council publishes and that can be assigned to a suburb. Categories can overlap when one application covers several types. Totals below five and their latest dates are suppressed. Register last synchronised 8 November 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Coolum Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Coolum 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 1008, and decile 8 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Coolum Beach's 9,152 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Eumundi - Yandina, the wider ABS statistical area containing Coolum Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Coolum Beach itself.
7,701 in 2001 to 13,729 in 2025, up 78%.
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.
Coolum 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 | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Inside a held contour | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Sunshine Coast Council |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 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 Coolum 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.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 93% of Coolum Beach. 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 Coolum Beach. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot to spin round in your browser (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Coolum Beach lot.
Coolum Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Coolum Beach flood-prone?
About 79% of Coolum Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 30%. Across the suburb, 41% of the 6,425 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 425 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Coolum Beach; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Coolum Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 55% of Coolum Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Sunshine Coast Regional average of 38%.
Is Coolum Beach affected by aircraft noise?
About <1% of Coolum Beach sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 20 - under AS 2021, land between ANEF 20 and 25 is conditionally acceptable for houses, usually with noise attenuation in the build. ANEF contours are forecasts published per airport and used to control noise-sensitive development; they are not a measurement at any one house, and a property can sit under a flight path and outside every contour.
Is Coolum Beach under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 93% of Coolum Beach, and over about 100% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 41 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. 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 Coolum Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Coolum Beach is Environmental Management and Conservation, though the suburb also includes Rural and Low Density Residential.
Does Coolum Beach have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Coolum Beach.
Is Coolum Beach hilly or flat?
Coolum Beach is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 5%, and 18% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 3 m to 67 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Coolum Beach?
Across 6,403 surveyed parcels in Coolum Beach, the median lot size is about 622 m². There are also 1,178 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Coolum Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Coolum Beach itself. The suburb is served by 27 bus stops.
What is the population of Coolum Beach?
At the 2021 Census Coolum Beach had 9,152 usual residents, with a median age of 45 and an average household size of 2.4 people. The wider Eumundi - Yandina statistical area, which contains Coolum Beach, went from 7,701 people in 2001 to 13,729 in 2025, up 78%.
Is Coolum Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Coolum Beach scores 1008 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Coolum Beach?
Median household income in Coolum Beach was $1,600 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,677 for the typical suburb in Sunshine Coast Regional. Median rent was $450 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point Arkwright | 3.2 km | <1% | 5% |
| Yaroomba | 3.5 km | 29% | 24% |
| Mount Coolum | 3.8 km | 51% | 58% |
| Peregian Springs | 4.2 km | 18% | 31% |
| Yandina Creek | 4.3 km | 56% | 47% |
| Peregian Beach | 6.7 km | 24% | 60% |
| Peregian Beach Noosa Shire |
6.7 km | 18% | 93% |
| Marcoola | 6.7 km | 96% | 38% |
| Maroochy River | 6.8 km | 67% | 27% |
| Valdora | 7.2 km | 43% | 26% |