Cowell flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Cowell
(The District Council of Franklin Harbour, SA) - 635.44 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 12 September 2026.
Suburb-wide figures; the free map shows which overlays touch your lot.
Constraint readout
635.44 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Cowell's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Cowell
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 to
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.
Cowell at a glance
How Cowell is zoned
Selling in Cowell? 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 635.44 km², Cowell is highly constrained by planning overlays. Flood mapping covers the suburb and none of it falls within a mapped flood overlay, and 99% is flagged bushfire-prone. There is 1 heritage-listed site on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Rural. The median lot measures about 5,491 m² across 1,566 parcels.
Who lives in Cowell
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Cowell 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 911, and decile 2 within South Australia. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Cowell's 1,124 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Kimba - Cleve - Franklin Harbour, the wider ABS statistical area containing Cowell. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Cowell itself.
4,542 in 2001 to 4,362 in 2025, down 4%.
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.
Cowell 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 12 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 Cowell 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.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Cowell lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Cowell planning - frequently asked
Is Cowell flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Cowell and none of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay.
Is Cowell bushfire-prone?
Around 99% of Cowell is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a The District Council of Franklin Harbour average of 97%.
Is Cowell under a flight path?
No aircraft were observed over Cowell in the period sampled (recent weeks to now). Sampling is intermittent, so that is a floor rather than proof that none fly over. 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 Cowell?
The dominant planning zone in Cowell is Rural, though the suburb also includes Conservation and Infrastructure (Airfield).
Does Cowell have heritage-listed places?
Cowell has 1 heritage-listed place on record.
What is the typical lot size in Cowell?
Across 1,566 surveyed parcels in Cowell, the median lot size is about 5,491 m².
Does Cowell have a train station?
There is no train station inside Cowell itself. The suburb is served by 1 bus stop.
What is the population of Cowell?
At the 2021 Census Cowell had 1,124 usual residents, with a median age of 53 and an average household size of 2.2 people. The wider Kimba - Cleve - Franklin Harbour statistical area, which contains Cowell, went from 4,542 people in 2001 to 4,362 in 2025, down 4%.
Is Cowell an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cowell scores 911 and sits in decile 2 of 10 nationally and decile 2 within South Australia (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Cowell?
Median household income in Cowell was $1,161 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,538 for the typical suburb in The District Council of Franklin Harbour. Median rent was $200 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,040 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Port Gibbon | 7.2 km | 0% | 94% |
| Lucky Bay | 21.3 km | 0% | 92% |
| Cleve The District Council of Cleve |
28.0 km | 0% | 100% |
| Arno Bay The District Council of Cleve |
29.2 km | 0% | 99% |
| Miltalie | 30.8 km | 0% | 100% |
| Minbrie | 31.9 km | 0% | 100% |
| Mitchellville | 34.9 km | 0% | 96% |
| Mangalo The District Council of Cleve |
37.3 km | 0% | 100% |
| Campoona The District Council of Cleve |
43.1 km | 0% | 100% |
| Verran The District Council of Cleve |
48.0 km | 0% | 100% |
See all The District Council of Franklin Harbour suburb profiles →