Planning Hazards API Overview

Overview

What is the Planning Hazards API?

The Planning Hazards API provides non-spatial zoning and planning overlay data for Australian properties. It returns boolean indicators and human-readable descriptions of whether a property falls within planning overlays and zoning classifications. This data supports lending decisions, property development scoping, and customer-facing property intelligence tools and is sourced from various state and local councils.

The planning hazards information is sourced from state and local councils and is based on historical events and hazard assessments. **Important:** They reflect past historical events and patterns—it does not predict or represent any specific future event. Some councils provide additional detail in overlay descriptions (such as severity levels/ratings), while others provide basic designations only.

Expected Launch: June 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What outputs does the Planning Hazards API provide?

The API returns two main categories of information for any property:

Zoning Information
- Zoning category (e.g., "Residential")
- Human-readable zoning description (e.g., "Low Density Residential")
Planning Overlays (4 types)
- Flood — Flood hazard areas and river/creek flood planning zones
- Bushfire — Bushfire hazard buffer areas
- Heritage — Local and state heritage places and areas
- Biodiversity — Biodiversity overlay designations

How is the information presented?

For a given property, each overlay includes:

Boolean indicator — Whether the overlay applies to the property (true/false)
Descriptions — Human-readable text describing the specific overlay(s)
Source information — Where the data comes from (dataset identifier)
Overlay type — For heritage and biodiversity, specific categorization (e.g., "Local heritage place")

Example Response

json

{
  "zoning": [
    {
      "category": "Residential",
      "description": "Low Density Residential"
    }
  ],
  "planningOverlays": [
    {
      "type": "flood",
      "applies": true,
      "descriptions": [
        "Brisbane River flood planning area 5",
        "Creek River Storm Tide: Medium Likelihood"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "bushfire",
      "applies": true,
      "descriptions": [
        "High Bushfire Hazard Buffer Area"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "heritage",
      "applies": true,
      "overlays": [
        {
          "source": "qld.scenic_rim.heritage.place.local",
          "label": "Local",
          "overlayType": "place",
          "description": "Local heritage area"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "biodiversity",
      "applies": false,
      "overlays": []
    }
  ]
}

Need help?

If you are interested or have questions with the Planning Hazards API, please reach out to us at support@valocityglobal.io.