Palen Creek flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Palen Creek
(Scenic Rim Regional, QLD) - 100.79 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
100.79 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Palen Creek's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Palen Creek properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 160 Palen Creek properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 160 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Palen Creek.
Palen Creek flood history and overland flow
These are suburb-wide totals across 160 analysed properties. They show how common each mapped category is across Palen Creek; they do not identify or describe any individual property.
Recorded historical flood mapping
49 analysed properties intersect at least one mapped historical event extent.
- Defined Flood Event: 49
Source: Scenic Rim Regional Council flood mapping, aggregated by LayeredGeo. Categories are only shown where at least five analysed properties share them. An address-level check is still required to determine whether a particular lot is mapped.
Palen Creek at a glance
Schools in and near Palen Creek
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: 0.17 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 13.55 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 Palen Creek is zoned
Selling in Palen Creek? 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 100.79 km², Palen Creek is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 4% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 70% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 3 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is hilly, and the median lot measures about 168,147 m² across 221 parcels.
Who lives in Palen Creek
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Palen Creek 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 904, and decile 2 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Palen Creek's 368 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Beaudesert, the wider ABS statistical area containing Palen Creek. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Palen Creek itself.
9,977 in 2001 to 16,642 in 2025, up 67%.
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.
Palen Creek 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 Palen Creek 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 Palen Creek. 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 Palen Creek lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Palen Creek planning - frequently asked
Is Palen Creek flood-prone?
About 4% of Palen Creek falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 12%. Across the suburb, 31% of the 160 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 47 rated high risk or historically affected.
Is Palen Creek bushfire-prone?
Around 70% of Palen Creek is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Scenic Rim Regional average of 52%.
What is the zoning in Palen Creek?
The dominant planning zone in Palen Creek is Rural, though the suburb also includes Conservation and Special Purpose.
Does Palen Creek have heritage-listed places?
Palen Creek has 3 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Palen Creek hilly or flat?
Palen Creek is hilly: the median ground slope is about 15%, and 51% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 90 m to 472 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Palen Creek?
Across 221 surveyed parcels in Palen Creek, the median lot size is about 168,147 m². There are also 10 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Palen Creek?
At the 2021 Census Palen Creek had 368 usual residents, with a median age of 41 and an average household size of 2.6 people. The wider Beaudesert statistical area, which contains Palen Creek, went from 9,977 people in 2001 to 16,642 in 2025, up 67%.
Is Palen Creek an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Palen Creek scores 904 and sits in decile 2 of 10 nationally and decile 2 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Palen Creek?
Median household income in Palen Creek was $1,174 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,562 for the typical suburb in Scenic Rim Regional. Median rent was $231 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,167 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barney View | 5.9 km | 3% | 51% |
| Mount Lindesay | 7.7 km | 0% | 94% |
| Mount Barney | 8.8 km | 2% | 89% |
| Running Creek | 10.5 km | 6% | 70% |
| Rathdowney | 10.8 km | 11% | 86% |
| Tamrookum Creek | 13.9 km | <1% | 91% |
| Maroon | 14.9 km | 2% | 64% |
| Innisplain | 16.0 km | 36% | 42% |
| Oaky Creek | 17.0 km | 4% | 63% |
| Knapp Creek | 18.1 km | 1% | 36% |