Guanaba flood map & planning overlays

A planning-constraint profile of Guanaba (Gold Coast City, QLD) - 22.12 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 19 September 2026.

Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Guanaba's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.

Nearby suburbs, nearest first

How common is mapped flood risk across Guanaba properties?

Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 367 Guanaba properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.

Guanaba at a glance

Parcels 344 Median lot 35,511 m² Mapped easements 94 Schools in suburb 0 Landslide overlay 64%

Schools in and near Guanaba

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

0

0 schools providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.

Nearest school availability

Primary: 1.21 km from the suburb boundary

Secondary: 2.01 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 Guanaba is zoned

Rural 87%
Conservation 12%
Open space 1%
Rural residential 0%

Selling in Guanaba? 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 22.12 km², Guanaba is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 10% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 96% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is hilly, and the median lot measures about 35,511 m² across 344 parcels.

Recent development applications in Guanaba

Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public City of Gold Coast register. No application address or individual property is published here.

Submitted in the past 12 months

8

Latest included submission: 27 August 2026.

Previous 12 months: 9 (11% 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 Guanaba

Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Guanaba suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.

Population
852
usual residents, 2021
Median age
46
years
Median household income
$2,250
per week, Gold Coast City suburb typical $1,830
Median rent
$475
per week, Gold Coast City suburb typical $450
Median mortgage
$2,167
per month
Household size
3.0
people, average

Socio-economic standing

ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.

Advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD) Decile 8
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 1023, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 7
most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Guanaba's 852 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 3.9%
5-14 12.3%
15-19 4.5%
20-24 5.9%
25-34 10.9%
35-44 10.1%
45-54 17.8%
55-64 17.7%
65-74 11.1%
75-84 4.6%
85+ 1.3%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

Estimated resident population of Guanaba - Springbrook, the wider ABS statistical area containing Guanaba. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Guanaba itself.

3,590 in 2001 to 4,687 in 2025, up 31%.

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.

Guanaba data sources and coverage

“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.

DatasetCoveragePublisher
Flood mappingMappedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
Bushfire-prone mappingMappedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
ZoningMappedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
Heritage and environmentMapped where publishedthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data
Aircraft noise contours (ANEF)Not heldthe relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence
DemographicsAvailableAustralian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA)
School availabilityAvailableQueensland Government
Development applicationsAvailable as suburb totalsCity of Gold Coast

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 Guanaba 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 Guanaba. 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 Guanaba lot.

See what's in the $9 report →

Guanaba planning - frequently asked

Is Guanaba flood-prone?

About 10% of Guanaba falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 38%. Across the suburb, 47% of the 367 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 165 rated high risk or historically affected.

Is Guanaba bushfire-prone?

Around 96% of Guanaba is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 50%.

What is the zoning in Guanaba?

The dominant planning zone in Guanaba is Rural, though the suburb also includes Conservation and Open space.

Does Guanaba have heritage-listed places?

No heritage-listed places are on record within Guanaba.

Is Guanaba hilly or flat?

Guanaba is hilly: the median ground slope is about 17%, and 62% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 19 m to 180 m AHD across the suburb.

What is the typical lot size in Guanaba?

Across 344 surveyed parcels in Guanaba, the median lot size is about 35,511 m². There are also 94 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

What is the population of Guanaba?

At the 2021 Census Guanaba had 852 usual residents, with a median age of 46 and an average household size of 3.0 people. The wider Guanaba - Springbrook statistical area, which contains Guanaba, went from 3,590 people in 2001 to 4,687 in 2025, up 31%.

Is Guanaba an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Guanaba scores 1023 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Guanaba?

Median household income in Guanaba was $2,250 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $475 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,167 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburbDistanceFlood mappedBushfire-prone
Maudsland 4.2 km 18% 75%
Tamborine Mountain
Scenic Rim Regional
4.5 km 0% 70%
Mount Nathan 5.4 km 11% 93%
Wongawallan 5.7 km 5% 96%
Clagiraba 6.1 km 8% 99%
Pacific Pines 7.5 km 3% 52%
Oxenford 7.9 km 30% 42%
Wonglepong
Scenic Rim Regional
8.3 km 22% 68%
Upper Coomera 8.4 km 14% 62%
Nerang 8.6 km 14% 82%

See all Gold Coast City suburb profiles →