Willow Vale flood map & planning overlays
A median age of 32, joint 3rd-youngest in Gold Coast City, with 53 flights a day overhead.
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A planning-constraint profile of Willow Vale
(Gold Coast City, QLD) - 21.46 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
21.46 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Willow Vale'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 Willow Vale properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 904 analysed Willow Vale properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 904 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Willow Vale.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Willow Vale
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 3,000 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.
Willow Vale at a glance
Schools in and near Willow Vale
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: 0.56 km from the suburb boundary
Secondary: 1.77 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 Willow Vale is zoned
Selling in Willow Vale? 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 21.46 km², Willow Vale is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 6% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 94% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 2 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural. The terrain is gently undulating, and the median lot measures about 706 m² across 933 parcels.
Recent development applications in Willow Vale
Applications are counted across the whole gazetted suburb from the public City of Gold Coast register. No application address or individual property is published here.
Submitted in the past 12 months
Latest included submission: 21 October 2026.
Previous 12 months: 12 (83% higher in the latest 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 8 November 2026. Check the official council register.
Who lives in Willow Vale
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Willow Vale 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 1024, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Willow Vale's 2,279 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Willow Vale - Pimpama (West), the wider ABS statistical area containing Willow Vale. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Willow Vale itself.
590 in 2001 to 8,721 in 2025, up 1378%.
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.
Willow Vale 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 |
| Development applications | Available as suburb totals | City of Gold Coast |
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 Willow Vale 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 87% of Willow Vale. 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 Willow Vale. 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 Willow Vale lot.
Willow Vale planning - frequently asked
Is Willow Vale flood-prone?
About 6% of Willow Vale falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 35%. Across the suburb, 21% of the 904 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 186 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Willow Vale; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Willow Vale bushfire-prone?
Around 94% of Willow Vale is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Gold Coast City average of 50%.
Is Willow Vale under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 87% of Willow Vale, and over about 98% 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 500 ft, with an average of 6,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 58 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 Willow Vale?
The dominant planning zone in Willow Vale is Rural, though the suburb also includes Conservation and Open space.
Does Willow Vale have heritage-listed places?
Willow Vale has 2 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Willow Vale hilly or flat?
Willow Vale is gently undulating: the median ground slope is about 8%, and 30% of measured points sit on grades of 15% or steeper. Ground level runs from roughly 12 m to 121 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Willow Vale?
Across 933 surveyed parcels in Willow Vale, the median lot size is about 706 m². There are also 158 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Willow Vale?
At the 2021 Census Willow Vale had 2,279 usual residents, with a median age of 32 and an average household size of 3.2 people. The wider Willow Vale - Pimpama (West) statistical area, which contains Willow Vale, went from 590 people in 2001 to 8,721 in 2025, up 1378%.
Is Willow Vale an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Willow Vale scores 1024 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 Willow Vale?
Median household income in Willow Vale was $2,134 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,830 for the typical suburb in Gold Coast City. Median rent was $430 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingsholme | 3.2 km | 5% | 94% |
| Upper Coomera | 4.6 km | 14% | 62% |
| Wongawallan | 5.3 km | 5% | 95% |
| Ormeau Hills | 5.6 km | 6% | 87% |
| Cedar Creek | 6.4 km | 7% | 97% |
| Coomera | 6.9 km | 41% | 72% |
| Pimpama | 7.0 km | 52% | 74% |
| Oxenford | 7.7 km | 30% | 42% |
| Ormeau | 7.9 km | 19% | 40% |
| Luscombe | 8.2 km | 8% | 88% |