Willson River flood map & planning overlays
A planning-constraint profile of Willson River
(Kangaroo Island Council, SA) - 25.47 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
25.47 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Willson River's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Willson River
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.
Willson River at a glance
How Willson River is zoned
Selling in Willson River? 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 25.47 km², Willson River 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. The dominant land-use zone is Rural. The median lot measures about 443,681 m² across 39 parcels.
Who lives in Willson River
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Willson River 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 975, and decile 5 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 Willson River. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Willson River 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.
Willson 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 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 Willson 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.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and an indicative AS 2870 site class for a Willson River lot.
See what's in the $9 report →Willson River planning - frequently asked
Is Willson River flood-prone?
Flood mapping covers Willson River and none of the suburb falls within a mapped flood overlay (the council-wide suburb average is 7%).
Is Willson River bushfire-prone?
Around 99% of Willson River is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Kangaroo Island Council average of 96%.
Is Willson River under a flight path?
No aircraft were observed over Willson River 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 Willson River?
The dominant planning zone in Willson River is Rural, though the suburb also includes Conservation and Coastal Waters and Offshore Islands.
Does Willson River have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Willson River.
What is the typical lot size in Willson River?
Across 39 surveyed parcels in Willson River, the median lot size is about 443,681 m².
Is Willson River an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Willson River scores 975 and sits in decile 5 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within South Australia (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dudley West | 7.6 km | 0% | 100% |
| Porky Flat | 8.2 km | 0% | 100% |
| Dudley East | 9.0 km | 0% | 100% |
| Baudin Beach | 9.8 km | 22% | 83% |
| Brown Beach | 9.9 km | 20% | 87% |
| American Beach | 10.4 km | 14% | 93% |
| Pelican Lagoon | 11.2 km | 10% | 94% |
| Kangaroo Head | 12.7 km | 2% | 99% |
| Antechamber Bay | 12.8 km | 17% | 99% |
| Ironstone | 12.8 km | <1% | 100% |