East Russell flood map & planning overlays
Median lots of 4 ha, mostly zoned Conservation, with 13.1% flood-mapped.
Things you won't regret: spending $9 to know the lot before you commit.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of East Russell
(Cairns Regional, QLD) - 244.65 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
244.65 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to East Russell'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 East Russell properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 127 analysed East Russell properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 127 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in East Russell.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over East Russell
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
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.
East Russell at a glance
Schools in and near East Russell
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
0 schools providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: 2.10 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 4.86 km from the suburb boundary
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time.
Which school zone is a East Russell address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How East Russell is zoned
Selling in East Russell? 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 244.65 km², East Russell is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 13% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 4% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Conservation. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 40,582 m² across 150 parcels.
Who lives in East Russell
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the East Russell 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 957, and decile 5 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of East Russell's 83 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Babinda, the wider ABS statistical area containing East Russell. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than East Russell itself.
4,292 in 2001 to 4,765 in 2025, up 11%.
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.
East Russell 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) | Not held | 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 |
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 East Russell 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 →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 East Russell. 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 East Russell lot.
East Russell planning - frequently asked
Is East Russell flood-prone?
About 13% of East Russell falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 55%. Across the suburb, 94% of the 127 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 119 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of East Russell; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is East Russell bushfire-prone?
Around 4% of East Russell is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Cairns Regional average of 23%.
Is East Russell under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 5% of East Russell in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 1,000 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 East Russell?
The dominant planning zone in East Russell is Conservation, though the suburb also includes Rural and Environmental Management.
Does East Russell have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within East Russell.
Is East Russell hilly or flat?
East Russell is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 5%, and 25% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 1 m to 153 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in East Russell?
Across 150 surveyed parcels in East Russell, the median lot size is about 40,582 m². There are also 24 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of East Russell?
At the 2021 Census East Russell had 83 usual residents, with a median age of 53 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Babinda statistical area, which contains East Russell, went from 4,292 people in 2001 to 4,765 in 2025, up 11%.
Is East Russell an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), East Russell scores 957 and sits in decile 4 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in East Russell?
Median household income in East Russell was $1,292 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,618 for the typical suburb in Cairns Regional. Median rent was $150 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,186 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bramston Beach | 8.3 km | 53% | 44% |
| Deeral | 9.8 km | 72% | 29% |
| Bellenden Ker | 9.8 km | 78% | 5% |
| Babinda | 10.8 km | 81% | <1% |
| Eubenangee | 15.5 km | 58% | 28% |
| Mirriwinni | 15.6 km | 78% | 7% |
| Fishery Falls | 16.2 km | 92% | <1% |
| Wooroonooran | 17.5 km | 19% | 15% |
| Wanjuru Cassowary Coast Regional |
19.8 km | 42% | 25% |
| Garradunga Cassowary Coast Regional |
20.2 km | 51% | <1% |