Mount Coolum flood map & planning overlays
44 flights a day over Mount Coolum, joint 6th on the Sunshine Coast.
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 Mount Coolum
(Sunshine Coast Regional, QLD) - 5.11 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
5.11 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Mount Coolum's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Amber hatching is the published aircraft noise (ANEF) contour. 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 Mount Coolum properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 2,361 analysed Mount Coolum properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 2,361 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Mount Coolum.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Mount Coolum
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Inside an aircraft noise contour
5% 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 25 and 30 is generally unacceptable for new houses; 20 to 25 is conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.
Contours held
- Sunshine Coast Airport ANEF
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
typical observed square 2 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 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.
Mount Coolum at a glance
Schools in and near Mount Coolum
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: 1.68 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 3.79 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 Mount Coolum is zoned
Selling in Mount Coolum? 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 5.11 km², Mount Coolum is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 51% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 58% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Environmental Management and Conservation. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 580 m² across 2,458 parcels.
Recent development applications in Mount Coolum
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 October 2026.
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 8 November 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Mount Coolum
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Mount Coolum 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 1011, and decile 8 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Mount Coolum's 4,545 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Coolum Beach, the wider ABS statistical area containing Mount Coolum. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Mount Coolum itself.
10,780 in 2001 to 17,064 in 2025, up 58%.
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.
Mount Coolum 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 |
| 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 |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Sunshine Coast Council |
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 Mount Coolum 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 →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Mount Coolum. 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 Mount Coolum. 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 Mount Coolum lot.
Mount Coolum planning - frequently asked
Is Mount Coolum flood-prone?
About 51% of Mount Coolum falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 30%. Across the suburb, 44% of the 2,361 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 130 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Mount Coolum; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Mount Coolum bushfire-prone?
Around 58% of Mount Coolum is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Sunshine Coast Regional average of 38%.
Is Mount Coolum affected by aircraft noise?
About 5% of Mount Coolum sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 25 - under AS 2021, land above ANEF 25 is generally considered unacceptable for new houses, and 20-25 conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. 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.
Is Mount Coolum under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Mount Coolum, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 41 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. 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 Mount Coolum?
The dominant planning zone in Mount Coolum is Environmental Management and Conservation, though the suburb also includes Low Density Residential and Rural.
Does Mount Coolum have heritage-listed places?
Mount Coolum has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
Is Mount Coolum hilly or flat?
Mount Coolum is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 5%, and 13% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 3 m to 47 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Mount Coolum?
Across 2,458 surveyed parcels in Mount Coolum, the median lot size is about 580 m². There are also 644 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Mount Coolum have a train station?
There is no train station inside Mount Coolum itself. The suburb is served by 8 bus stops.
What is the population of Mount Coolum?
At the 2021 Census Mount Coolum had 4,545 usual residents, with a median age of 44 and an average household size of 2.4 people. The wider Coolum Beach statistical area, which contains Mount Coolum, went from 10,780 people in 2001 to 17,064 in 2025, up 58%.
Is Mount Coolum an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Mount Coolum scores 1011 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Mount Coolum?
Median household income in Mount Coolum was $1,690 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,677 for the typical suburb in Sunshine Coast Regional. Median rent was $450 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,863 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaroomba | 1.4 km | 29% | 24% |
| Point Arkwright | 2.2 km | <1% | 5% |
| Marcoola | 3.3 km | 96% | 38% |
| Coolum Beach | 3.8 km | 79% | 55% |
| Pacific Paradise | 6.1 km | 97% | 11% |
| Mudjimba | 6.2 km | 94% | 50% |
| Maroochy River | 6.6 km | 67% | 27% |
| Yandina Creek | 7.0 km | 56% | 47% |
| Twin Waters | 7.4 km | 94% | 19% |
| Peregian Springs | 7.8 km | 18% | 31% |