Lower Cowley flood map & planning overlays
Lower by name, low by map: 93.3% of Lower Cowley is 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 Lower Cowley
(Cassowary Coast Regional, QLD) - 12.02 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
12.02 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Lower Cowley'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
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Lower Cowley
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 5,500 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.
Lower Cowley at a glance
Schools in and near Lower Cowley
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: 6.50 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 15.46 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 Lower Cowley address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Lower Cowley is zoned
Selling in Lower Cowley? 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 12.02 km², Lower Cowley is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 93% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 18% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The median lot measures about 89,001 m² across 61 parcels.
Who lives in Lower Cowley
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Lower Cowley 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 931, and decile 3 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Lower Cowley's 55 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Johnstone, the wider ABS statistical area containing Lower Cowley. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Lower Cowley itself.
8,075 in 2001 to 8,281 in 2025, up 3%.
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.
Lower Cowley 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 Lower Cowley 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 Lower Cowley. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
Moving here? The Liveability section adds walking times from the address to schools, parks, shops and transport, and the school zones it sits in (+$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 Lower Cowley lot.
Lower Cowley planning - frequently asked
Is Lower Cowley flood-prone?
About 93% of Lower Cowley falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 66%. Published flood models are held over parts of Lower Cowley; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Lower Cowley bushfire-prone?
Around 18% of Lower Cowley is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Cassowary Coast Regional average of 16%.
Is Lower Cowley under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 6% of Lower Cowley in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 6,500 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 Lower Cowley?
The dominant planning zone in Lower Cowley is Rural, though the suburb also includes Environmental management and conservation.
Does Lower Cowley have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Lower Cowley.
What is the typical lot size in Lower Cowley?
Across 61 surveyed parcels in Lower Cowley, the median lot size is about 89,001 m². There are also 9 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Lower Cowley?
At the 2021 Census Lower Cowley had 55 usual residents, with a median age of 45 and an average household size of 2.7 people. The wider Johnstone statistical area, which contains Lower Cowley, went from 8,075 people in 2001 to 8,281 in 2025, up 3%.
Is Lower Cowley an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Lower Cowley scores 931 and sits in decile 3 of 10 nationally and decile 3 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Lower Cowley?
Median household income in Lower Cowley was $1,125 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,319 for the typical suburb in Cassowary Coast Regional. Median rent was $215 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,127 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cowley | 2.2 km | 84% | 14% |
| McCutcheon | 3.3 km | 88% | 9% |
| Cowley Creek | 4.0 km | 72% | 24% |
| Sandy Pocket | 5.2 km | 94% | 18% |
| Goolboo | 5.4 km | 98% | 0% |
| Warrubullen | 5.9 km | 59% | 32% |
| No. 5 Branch | 7.4 km | 78% | 4% |
| Moresby | 7.5 km | 88% | 15% |
| Cowley Beach | 7.8 km | 47% | 24% |
| Silkwood | 7.8 km | 98% | 7% |