Golden Beach flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Golden Beach
(Sunshine Coast Regional, QLD) - 4.22 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 19 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
4.22 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Golden Beach's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Golden Beach properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 3,656 Golden Beach properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 3,656 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Golden Beach.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Golden 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 aircraft traffic is a separate question from the contour.
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
- Caloundra Aerodrome ANEF
Golden Beach at a glance
Schools in and near Golden Beach
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb. These figures do not rate schools and do not assign a particular address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
1 school providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: 0.19 km from the suburb boundary
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 Golden Beach is zoned
Selling in Golden 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 4.22 km², Golden Beach is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 71% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 2% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 24 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Low Density Residential. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 607 m² across 3,849 parcels.
Recent development applications in Golden 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: 16 September 2026.
Previous 12 months: 11 (18% lower 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 20 September 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Golden Beach
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Golden 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 957, and decile 5 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Golden Beach's 5,646 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Golden Beach - Pelican Waters, the wider ABS statistical area containing Golden Beach. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Golden Beach itself.
6,409 in 2001 to 14,293 in 2025, up 123%.
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.
Golden 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 |
| 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 19 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 Golden 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.
Published flood models are held over parts of Golden 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 (+$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 Golden Beach lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Golden Beach planning - frequently asked
Is Golden Beach flood-prone?
About 71% of Golden Beach falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 30%. Across the suburb, 70% of the 3,656 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 857 rated high risk or historically affected.
Is Golden Beach bushfire-prone?
Around 2% of Golden Beach is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Sunshine Coast Regional average of 38%.
Is Golden Beach affected by aircraft noise?
About <1% of Golden Beach sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 15 - 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.
What is the zoning in Golden Beach?
The dominant planning zone in Golden Beach is Low Density Residential, though the suburb also includes Sport and Recreation and Open Space.
Does Golden Beach have heritage-listed places?
Golden Beach has 24 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Golden Beach hilly or flat?
Golden Beach is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 4 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Golden Beach?
Across 3,849 surveyed parcels in Golden Beach, the median lot size is about 607 m². There are also 133 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Golden Beach have a train station?
There is no train station inside Golden Beach itself. The suburb is served by 29 bus stops.
What is the population of Golden Beach?
At the 2021 Census Golden Beach had 5,646 usual residents, with a median age of 55 and an average household size of 2.1 people. The wider Golden Beach - Pelican Waters statistical area, which contains Golden Beach, went from 6,409 people in 2001 to 14,293 in 2025, up 123%.
Is Golden Beach an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Golden Beach 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 Golden Beach?
Median household income in Golden Beach was $1,154 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,677 for the typical suburb in Sunshine Coast Regional. Median rent was $400 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,907 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelican Waters | 1.9 km | 72% | 23% |
| Caloundra West | 2.6 km | 46% | 48% |
| Caloundra | 3.0 km | 13% | 11% |
| Kings Beach | 3.5 km | 1% | <1% |
| Moffat Beach | 3.8 km | 6% | 7% |
| Baringa | 4.0 km | 32% | 25% |
| Shelly Beach | 4.0 km | 9% | 2% |
| Bells Creek | 4.1 km | 78% | 46% |
| Aroona | 4.5 km | 3% | 19% |
| Dicky Beach | 4.7 km | 8% | 10% |