Ballast Head flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Ballast Head
(Kangaroo Island Council, SA) - 23.54 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 3 October 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
23.54 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Ballast Head'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
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Ballast Head
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 overflight is what a sampled aircraft-tracking feed actually recorded over the suburb - where aircraft flew, how low and how often.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 3 Oct 2026
Night movements: not established - night is sampled as often as day, but too few night flights have been seen here to conclude either way.
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.
Ballast Head at a glance
How Ballast Head is zoned
Selling in Ballast Head? The zone and overlays on this page are the Planning and Design Code controls a Form 1 vendor's statement has to disclose.
Across its 23.54 km², Ballast Head is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 2% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 99% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 2 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural. The median lot measures about 414,475 m² across 30 parcels.
Who lives in Ballast Head
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Ballast Head 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 992, and decile 6 within South Australia. The national average is 1000.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Kangaroo Island, the wider ABS statistical area containing Ballast Head. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Ballast Head itself.
4,227 in 2001 to 5,212 in 2025, up 23%.
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.
Ballast Head 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 South Australian Planning and Design Code and Location SA spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the South Australian Planning and Design Code and Location SA spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the South Australian Planning and Design Code and Location SA spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the South Australian Planning and Design Code and Location SA spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | the South Australian Planning and Design Code and Location SA spatial data, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 3 October 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 Ballast Head 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.
Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 1% of Ballast Head. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Ballast Head lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Ballast Head planning - frequently asked
Is Ballast Head flood-prone?
About 2% of Ballast Head falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 7%.
Is Ballast Head bushfire-prone?
Around 99% of Ballast Head is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Kangaroo Island Council average of 96%.
Is Ballast Head under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 1% of Ballast Head, and over about 8% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 3 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 4,000 ft. 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 Ballast Head?
The dominant planning zone in Ballast Head is Rural, though the suburb also includes Conservation and Coastal Waters and Offshore Islands.
Does Ballast Head have heritage-listed places?
Ballast Head has 2 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Ballast Head?
Across 30 surveyed parcels in Ballast Head, the median lot size is about 414,475 m².
Is Ballast Head an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Ballast Head scores 992 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within South Australia (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| American River | 2.9 km | 30% | 71% |
| Sapphiretown | 3.9 km | 60% | 47% |
| Island Beach | 5.1 km | 20% | 85% |
| Muston | 6.8 km | 4% | 96% |
| Brown Beach | 8.4 km | 20% | 87% |
| Pelican Lagoon | 8.8 km | 10% | 94% |
| Nepean Bay | 8.9 km | 16% | 90% |
| Baudin Beach | 9.0 km | 22% | 83% |
| American Beach | 10.1 km | 14% | 93% |
| Dudley West | 10.6 km | 0% | 100% |