Port Macquarie-Hastings flood map check

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council publishes its own flood mapping, and the Site Checker reads it for any Port Macquarie-Hastings address. The checker reads the two extents its local environmental plan turns on: the flood planning area and the probable maximum flood.

Type an address below to see what each map says about the block, with its source and date.

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Is my Port Macquarie-Hastings property flood affected?

A Port Macquarie-Hastings property is flood affected for planning when any part of it is in the council's flood planning area, where clause 5.21 of the LEP applies, or inside the probable maximum flood, where clause 5.22 can apply. The Site Checker above reads the council's layers, the NSW Planning Portal map and the NSW SES extents, and shows each answer separately. The official answer is still Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's, and the questions below explain how to get it.

Where is the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council flood map?

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's Flood Map lets you search an address and see the flood planning area and probable maximum flood extent. Its floodplain management page names six floodplain areas: the Hastings River, Camden Haven, Lake Cathie and Lake Innes, Wrights Creek, the Hibbard Precinct and the North Brother local catchment.

Which Port Macquarie-Hastings Council flood layers does the Site Checker read?

Both layers name the instrument behind them: a SEPP amendment to the Port Macquarie-Hastings LEP 2011, made on 10 November 2023, bringing in clause 5.21 on flood planning and clause 5.22 on special flood considerations.

The checker asks 2 layers: Flood Planning Area and Probable Maximum Flood. Every one answered a test query on 17 September 2026. Two Camden Haven services for the 2025 flood study are left out, because they hold exhibition data for a draft study that the council says may change after community feedback.

What is the difference between clause 5.21 and clause 5.22 in Port Macquarie-Hastings?

Clause 5.21 applies flood controls to land in the flood planning area, the land at or below the 1% AEP flood level plus a safety margin called freeboard. Clause 5.22 reaches further, to land between the flood planning area and the probable maximum flood, and applies special flood considerations to sensitive uses there, such as hospitals, aged care and emergency services, rather than to an ordinary house.

How do I get a flood certificate from Port Macquarie-Hastings Council?

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council offers two: a Flood Certificate, which it says contains the relevant flood planning levels and mapping for a property, and a Flood Enquiry, made on its request for flood information form. Both are applied for online from its flood certificates and flood enquiries page.

Why does the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council map differ from the state map?

They are drawn by different bodies for different jobs. The NSW SES Flood Database compiles flood extents from studies across the state, while Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's map is the one its planning controls are written against, and a flood planning area usually sits above the 1% AEP extent because it adds freeboard. A withdrawn LEP flood map on the Planning Portal shows as a former map with its date, never as a current control. The checker never merges the sources into one verdict, and where they disagree, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council settles it.

What else do people ask?

Does the Port Macquarie-Hastings flood map show how deep the water would get?

No. An extent says whether land is inside a modelled flood, not how deep or fast the water is. Flood levels in metres AHD (height above average sea level) come from Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, through a Flood Certificate or a Flood Enquiry.

If my Port Macquarie-Hastings block is outside the mapped area, can it still flood?

Yes. The 2025 Camden Haven flood study is still a draft, so its new mapping is not yet in the extents the council has adopted. Land outside every map can still flood from overland flow no study has modelled, and a council can apply flood controls to land its published map does not show.

Is this the same as a section 10.7 planning certificate?

No. Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's section 10.7 planning certificate is the formal statement of the controls on a lot, including whether flood related development controls apply. Order one through Port Macquarie-Hastings Council online certificates.

Where does this information come from?

This page and the Site Checker are general information from published maps, not a flood certificate, a section 10.7 planning certificate or a survey. They do not replace advice from the council, your certifier, an engineer, a lawyer or your own designer. Check any decision to buy or build against the council's own documents.