Rowes Bay flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Rowes Bay
(Townsville City, QLD) - 2.79 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
2.79 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Rowes Bay's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Amber hatching is the published aircraft noise (ANEF) contour.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Rowes Bay properties?
Overlay percentages say how much land is constrained; these figures say how many properties are actually touched in a suburb-wide analysis of 295 Rowes Bay properties. No individual property result is identified on this page.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 295 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Rowes Bay.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Rowes Bay
Two different things, kept apart on purpose. The ANEF contour is the planning instrument - a forecast published per airport that planning schemes use to control noise-sensitive development. Observed aircraft traffic is a separate question from the contour.
Inside an aircraft noise contour
100% 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 at ANEF 30 and above is generally unacceptable for new houses and most noise-sensitive uses. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.
Contours held
- Defence Airfields ANEF
- Townsville City Council ANEF
Rowes Bay at a glance
Schools in and near Rowes Bay
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: 0.57 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 1.90 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 Rowes Bay is zoned
Selling in Rowes Bay? 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 2.79 km², Rowes Bay is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 100% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 36% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Community Facilities. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 809 m² across 155 parcels.
Recent development applications in Rowes Bay
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
No geocoded application submissions were found for this suburb in the period.
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 19 September 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Rowes Bay
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Rowes Bay 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 1026, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Rowes Bay's 541 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Belgian Gardens - Pallarenda, the wider ABS statistical area containing Rowes Bay. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Rowes Bay itself.
3,362 in 2001 to 3,190 in 2025, down 5%.
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.
Rowes Bay 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 |
| Demographics | 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 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 Rowes Bay 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 Rowes Bay. 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 Rowes Bay lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Rowes Bay planning - frequently asked
Is Rowes Bay flood-prone?
About 100% of Rowes Bay falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 39%. Across the suburb, 0% of the 295 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk.
Is Rowes Bay bushfire-prone?
Around 36% of Rowes Bay is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Townsville City average of 50%.
Is Rowes Bay affected by aircraft noise?
About 100% of Rowes Bay sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 40 - 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.
What is the zoning in Rowes Bay?
The dominant planning zone in Rowes Bay is Community Facilities, though the suburb also includes Open Space and Conservation.
Does Rowes Bay have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Rowes Bay.
Is Rowes Bay hilly or flat?
Rowes Bay is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 4 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Rowes Bay?
Across 155 surveyed parcels in Rowes Bay, the median lot size is about 809 m². There are also 16 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Rowes Bay have a train station?
There is no train station inside Rowes Bay itself. The suburb is served by 2 bus stops.
What is the population of Rowes Bay?
At the 2021 Census Rowes Bay had 541 usual residents, with a median age of 69 and an average household size of 1.7 people. The wider Belgian Gardens - Pallarenda statistical area, which contains Rowes Bay, went from 3,362 people in 2001 to 3,190 in 2025, down 5%.
Is Rowes Bay an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Rowes Bay scores 1026 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Rowes Bay?
Median household income in Rowes Bay was $853 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,510 for the typical suburb in Townsville City. Median rent was $265 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,875 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgian Gardens | 1.2 km | 66% | 15% |
| Castle Hill | 2.0 km | 0% | 86% |
| Garbutt | 2.1 km | 100% | 5% |
| West End | 2.7 km | 68% | 17% |
| North Ward | 2.9 km | 55% | 11% |
| Currajong | 3.8 km | 100% | 0% |
| Townsville City | 3.9 km | 66% | 7% |
| Hyde Park | 4.3 km | 100% | 0% |
| Pimlico | 4.5 km | 100% | 13% |
| Mount St John | 4.6 km | 100% | 5% |