Highland Plains flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Highland Plains
(Toowoomba Regional, QLD) - 57.98 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
57.98 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Highland Plains's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Highland Plains properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 75 Highland Plains properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 75 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Highland Plains.
Highland Plains at a glance
Schools in and near Highland Plains
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 schools providing primary years and 0 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: 4.07 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 16.07 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 Highland Plains is zoned
Selling in Highland Plains? 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 57.98 km², Highland Plains is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 15% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 30% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 630,549 m² across 81 parcels.
Who lives in Highland Plains
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Highland Plains 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 987, and decile 7 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Highland Plains's 60 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Crows Nest - Rosalie, the wider ABS statistical area containing Highland Plains. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Highland Plains itself.
7,766 in 2001 to 9,824 in 2025, up 27%.
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.
Highland Plains 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 |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
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 Highland Plains 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 Highland Plains. 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 Highland Plains lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Highland Plains planning - frequently asked
Is Highland Plains flood-prone?
About 15% of Highland Plains falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 24%. Across the suburb, 0% of the 75 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk.
Is Highland Plains bushfire-prone?
Around 30% of Highland Plains is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Toowoomba Regional average of 20%.
What is the zoning in Highland Plains?
The dominant planning zone in Highland Plains is Rural, though the suburb also includes Extractive Industry and Unzoned.
Does Highland Plains have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Highland Plains.
Is Highland Plains hilly or flat?
Highland Plains is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 3%. Ground level runs from roughly 454 m to 563 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Highland Plains?
Across 81 surveyed parcels in Highland Plains, the median lot size is about 630,549 m². There are also 8 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Highland Plains?
At the 2021 Census Highland Plains had 60 usual residents, with a median age of 42 and an average household size of 3.1 people. The wider Crows Nest - Rosalie statistical area, which contains Highland Plains, went from 7,766 people in 2001 to 9,824 in 2025, up 27%.
Is Highland Plains an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Highland Plains scores 987 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 7 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Highland Plains?
Median household income in Highland Plains was $2,062 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,583 for the typical suburb in Toowoomba Regional. Median rent was $340 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rosalie Plains | 6.5 km | 36% | 10% |
| Balgowan | 6.6 km | 45% | <1% |
| Kilbirnie | 6.7 km | 11% | 42% |
| Mount Darry | 7.3 km | 18% | 23% |
| Silverleigh | 7.4 km | 44% | 6% |
| Muldu | 8.4 km | 14% | <1% |
| Greenwood | 8.5 km | 21% | 4% |
| Goombungee | 9.5 km | 15% | 18% |
| Acland | 9.9 km | 30% | 4% |
| Sabine | 11.2 km | 46% | 7% |