Howqua flood map & planning overlays
Howqua has the youngest median age in Victoria, 15.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Howqua
(Mansfield, VIC) - 39.21 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
39.21 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Howqua'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 Howqua
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 24 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.
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.
Howqua at a glance
How Howqua is zoned
Selling in Howqua? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 39.21 km², Howqua is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 4% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. The dominant land-use zone is Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ). The median lot measures about 70,399 m² across 94 parcels.
Who lives in Howqua
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Howqua 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 1004, and decile 6 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Howqua's 158 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Mansfield (Vic.), the wider ABS statistical area containing Howqua. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Howqua itself.
6,907 in 2001 to 11,324 in 2025, up 64%.
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.
Howqua 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 | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Zoning | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, 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 24 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 Howqua 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 →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 the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Howqua lot.
Howqua planning - frequently asked
Is Howqua flood-prone?
About 4% of Howqua falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 7%.
Is Howqua bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Howqua is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Mansfield average of 99%.
Is Howqua under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed over about 6% of Howqua in the period sampled, but only above 3,000 ft - the lowest measured was 3,000 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 Howqua?
The dominant planning zone in Howqua is Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ), though the suburb also includes Farming Zone (FZ) and Public Use Zone (PUZ1).
Does Howqua have heritage-listed places?
No heritage-listed places are on record within Howqua.
What is the typical lot size in Howqua?
Across 94 surveyed parcels in Howqua, the median lot size is about 70,399 m². There are also 88 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Howqua?
At the 2021 Census Howqua had 158 usual residents, with a median age of 15 and an average household size of 2.5 people. The wider Mansfield (Vic.) statistical area, which contains Howqua, went from 6,907 people in 2001 to 11,324 in 2025, up 64%.
Is Howqua an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Howqua scores 1004 and sits in decile 7 of 10 nationally and decile 6 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Howqua?
Median household income in Howqua was $1,875 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,408 for the typical suburb in Mansfield.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howqua Inlet | 5.7 km | 2% | 100% |
| Macs Cove | 6.2 km | 2% | 100% |
| Jamieson | 7.8 km | 5% | 100% |
| Piries | 8.8 km | 14% | 100% |
| Boorolite | 9.4 km | 4% | 100% |
| Mountain Bay | 9.6 km | <1% | 100% |
| Howqua Hills | 11.7 km | <1% | 100% |
| Kevington | 12.3 km | 0% | 100% |
| Delatite | 13.6 km | 25% | 100% |
| Goughs Bay | 14.6 km | 10% | 100% |