Ross River flood map & planning overlays
Ross River's 14 ha lots sit lightly on the bushfire map, 28.3%.
Things you won't regret: spending $9 to know the lot before you commit.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Ross River
(Townsville City, QLD) - 121.43 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
121.43 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Ross River'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
How common is mapped flood risk across Ross River properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 168 analysed Ross River properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 168 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Ross River.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Ross River
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
typical observed square 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 4,500 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.
Ross River at a glance
Schools in and near Ross River
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: 2.43 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 8.15 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 Ross River address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Ross River is zoned
Selling in Ross River? 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 121.43 km², Ross River is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 28% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 142,009 m² across 236 parcels.
Recent development applications in Ross River
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public Townsville City Council register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
The exact total and latest date are suppressed for privacy.
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.
Ross River 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 | Not available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | Townsville City 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 Ross River 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 22% of Ross River. 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 Ross River. 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).
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 Ross River lot.
Ross River planning - frequently asked
Is Ross River flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Ross River and none of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 57%). Across the suburb, 0% of the 168 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk. Published flood models are held over parts of Ross River; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Ross River bushfire-prone?
Around 28% of Ross River is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Townsville City average of 50%.
Is Ross River under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 22% of Ross River, and over about 54% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 1,000 ft, with an average of 4,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 6 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 Ross River?
The dominant planning zone in Ross River is Rural, though the suburb also includes Community Facilities and Open Space.
Does Ross River have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Ross River.
Is Ross River hilly or flat?
Ross River is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 34 m to 54 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Ross River?
Across 236 surveyed parcels in Ross River, the median lot size is about 142,009 m². There are also 31 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barringha | 5.6 km | Not mapped | 69% |
| Oak Valley | 8.6 km | 0% | 84% |
| Toonpan | 9.1 km | Not mapped | 90% |
| Brookhill | 10.4 km | <1% | 87% |
| Mount Stuart | 11.4 km | 3% | 94% |
| Pinnacles | 11.4 km | 6% | 74% |
| Kelso | 12.4 km | 86% | 40% |
| Roseneath | 14.2 km | 2% | 94% |
| Rasmussen | 15.6 km | 82% | 16% |
| Julago | 15.6 km | 2% | 86% |