1 Proposed33applications on record, though this council feed does not publish assessment statusLatest March 2026See applications ↓
2 Approved137dwellings approved in 2024-25, or 0.53 per 100 existing dwellings a yearOfficial · ABS to June 2026See approvals ↓
3 Building21major projects committed or under construction, 7 of them already on siteForward · completions to 2030+See projects ↓
4 Delivered585new addresses verified since the 2021 Census, up 5.6% on the existing baseActual · to June 2026Where it landed ↓
In the 2024-25 financial year the ABS recorded 137 dwelling approvals across Whitsunday. AreaSearch tracks 21 major projects here that are committed or under construction, the largest being Edenvale (Cannon Valley Master Planned Community) at an estimated $320m. On the ground, 585 new addresses have been verified since the 2021 Census — growth of 5.6% on the existing address base.
These four figures are deliberately not added together. An application, an
approval and a project under construction are often the same building at three points in its life,
measured by three different bodies with three different lags. Read them as a sequence, not a total.
ApprovedBuilding Approvals in Whitsunday
What councils and certifiers have formally
permitted — the ABS series, published about four months in arrears.
Approvals are running at 0.53 per 100 existing dwellings a year, below the Queensland rate of 0.77. Development here remains overwhelmingly detached: houses account for 94% of recent approvals. That is a clear shift back toward detached housing — the five-year average is 78% houses. The mix being approved closely matches what is already standing — 78% houses against 75% of existing homes. The average approved dwelling is valued at $1,253,000 in construction cost.
For its size, Whitsunday is adding 0.53 dwellings a year per 100 existing homes — below the Queensland rate of 0.77 and the national rate of 0.71. That is about 6.6 approvals a year for every 1,000 residents. Building intensity has fallen by about 29% across the published series.
Measured against people rather than housing stock, Whitsunday is approving 5.25 dwellings a year per 1,000 residents — below the Queensland rate of 6.67. The two rate views differ by household size, which here averages 3.0 people per home. Housing the projection to 2041 would need about 5.31 per 1,000 residents a year.
Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing
homes, with Queensland and Australia for comparison. This is the
same activity as the totals view, divided by the size of the area — which is the only
fair way to compare a large SA3 with a small one.
Dwelling approvals a year per 1,000
residents, each year divided by that year’s estimated resident
population (ABS ERP at 30 June), not by today’s — which matters most in fast-growing
areas, where a fixed denominator can understate the early years by half. The most recent periods use the latest published ERP, as the population series runs a year behind approvals. Read it alongside the per-100-homes view: the two differ wherever household size does.
Dwelling units approved each financial year. The dashed line is the five-year average of 174.
How intensively is it building?
Dwelling approvals a year per 100 existing dwellings.
Whitsunday0.53
Queensland0.77
Australia0.71
What is here, and what is coming
Detached houses as a share of existing homes,
against the share of recent approvals.
Existing homes (2021 Census)75%
Approved, last 5 years78%
Approved, latest year94%
Detached housesApartments, townhouses & other
Approvals mix by year
Share of each year’s approvals.
2022
2023
2024
2025
2024-25
$245m
Residential work approved
2024-25
$180m
Commercial work approved
construction cost
$1,253,000
Average value per approved dwelling
last two years
189
Residents per approval
Supply & DemandIs Whitsunday Building Enough Homes?
The same approvals, measured against the population
they have to house.
Whitsunday approves about 6.6 new dwellings a year for every 1,000 residents. Since the 2021 Census it has added 2,792 residents but only 585 new addresses — about 4.8 extra people for every home built, against an average household of 3.0. On those numbers supply has not kept pace with growth. Housing the population projected for 2041 implies roughly 139 new dwellings a year from here, which puts the recent approval rate of 174 a year comfortably ahead of what the projection needs.
Growth against supply since the Census
People added for every new address verified,
against the size of an average local household.
People added per new home4.8
Average household size3.0
A bar longer than the household average means
the area gained more residents than its new housing could hold, and the extra had to be
absorbed by existing homes.
Approval rate against projected need
Dwellings a year: what is currently being
approved, against what the 2041 population projection implies.
Approved (5-yr average)174
Implied need to 2041139
Implied need assumes the average household stays
at today’s 3.0 people. Approvals are not
completions, and not every approval is built.
What is being asked for right now — applications
collected from council planning portals, before any of it reaches the ABS series above.
AreaSearch tracks applications of material scale; routine minor works such as signage and
fencing changes are not carried, so these are not counts of every application lodged. 9
of them carry an AreaSearch analyst assessment — look for the
Analysed marker in the search below.
AreaSearch tracks 33 development applications of material scale lodged with council across Whitsunday, the most recent in March 2026. The most common types in the queue are commercial, multi-residential and retail.
Number of applications by development type. This is the clearest
single picture of what kind of place Whitsunday is being asked to become. Councils in
Queensland do not publish an estimated cost of works in
their planning feeds, so applications here are counted rather than valued.
Where the applications stand
As reported by the council. Highlighted rows are
applications still in assessment.
By local government area
Applications on record within each council area that
overlaps Whitsunday. This counts applications inside this
statistical area only — it is not a total for the council.
Whitsunday33
Recent applications in Whitsunday
By the number of dwellings proposed, as lodged. Figures are the applicant’s own and are not verified by AreaSearch.
Development of five single-bedroom multiple dwelling unitsProserpine · lodged Nov 2025
5 dwellings
Short-term accommodation consisting of two dual occupancy unitsAirlie - Whitsundays · lodged Nov 2025
2 dwellings
Minor change to a development permit for a hotel extension including a bar, beer garden, and car parkingProserpine · lodged Mar 2026
Material Change of Use for Short Term AccommodationAirlie - Whitsundays · lodged Dec 2025
Development permit for short-term accommodationAirlie - Whitsundays · lodged Dec 2025
Material Change of Use for Short Term AccommodationAirlie - Whitsundays · lodged Dec 2025
Material Change of Use for Short Term AccommodationAirlie - Whitsundays · lodged Dec 2025
Development Permit for Material Change of Use for Shop (Tenancy 3)Airlie - Whitsundays · lodged Nov 2025
BuildingFORWARDMajor Projects & Infrastructure in Whitsunday
What is funded and moving — the projects large enough
to change how Whitsunday works, ranked by committed value and how close
they are to delivery.
AreaSearch tracks 21 current projects across Whitsunday. The largest is Edenvale (Cannon Valley Master Planned Community) at an estimated $320m, due by 2035. That breaks down as 7 under construction, 2 approved and awaiting a start and 12 still in planning. The pipeline is weighted toward national security, health & medical and transport & logistics.
Under construction$120mby 2026
Whitsunday Community Health Centre Development
The Whitsunday Community Health Centre expansion provides enhanced healthcare services to the Whitsunday region. The facility includes specialist consulting suites, diagnostic imaging, and mental health…
Major staged upgrade of Proserpine - Shute Harbour Road including flood immunity improvements at Hamilton Plains and capacity upgrades between Paluma Road and Valley Drive in Cannonvale. Works include road…
Multi-stage upgrade project to improve safety, flood immunity, and capacity on this key arterial route. This includes the Hamilton Plains Flood Immunity Upgrade (raising the road level over 1.4km to reduce…
Cannonvale Aquaculture Research StationApproved · National Security · by 2026 · Airlie - Whitsundays
$28m
Proserpine Replacement Police Facility and CourthouseUnder construction · National Security · by 2026 · Proserpine
$10m
Whitsunday Emergency Services HubIn planning · National Security · by 2027 · Airlie - Whitsundays
$65m
Edenvale (Cannon Valley Master Planned Community)In planning · Residential Development · by 2035 · Airlie - Whitsundays
$320m
Proserpine Hospital Clinical Assimilation Training Area and Acute Primary Care Clinic UpgradeUnder construction · Health & Medical · by 2026 · Proserpine
$8m
Proserpine Waste Water Treatment Facility UpgradeIn planning · Environmental & Disaster Management · by 2026 · Airlie - Whitsundays
$45m
Whitsunday Cultural Arts CentreIn planning · Arts & Culture · by 2027 · Airlie - Whitsundays
$45m
Whitsunday Technology Innovation HubIn planning · Science & Research · by 2029 · Airlie - Whitsundays
$85m
Whitsunday Coast Airport ExpansionIn planning · Transport & Logistics · by 2034 · Proserpine
$125m
6 further projects in
Whitsunday are not listed here.
Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as
definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other
investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and
project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact
Us and we will do so.
Beyond 2030:
a further $445m across
2 projects with completion dates further out — mostly precinct-scale programs whose dates are
indicative. Kept out of the chart so the years you can act on stay readable.
Estimated value of tracked projects by the year they are due to
complete, stacked by how certain they are. The dark band is money already being spent;
the pale band is still an intention. Estimates are indicative and mix infrastructure
cost with whole-of-precinct development value, so read the shape rather than the totals.
Approvals PipelineDevelopment Applications in Whitsunday
Development applications around
Whitsunday
Development approvals is a new addition to AreaSearch.
We’re actively expanding council coverage and refining the dataset — details and statuses for some councils may be partial. Check back regularly for the latest pipeline.
Applications
—
In the local catchment
Est. Value
—
Where disclosed
Under Assessment
—
Awaiting determination
Determined
—
Approved or decided
Approvals pipelineStatus, location, timing and project scale
Loading development applications…
Lodged
Address
Description
Type
Distance
Status
SOURCE: Planning portals and council registers, compiled by AreaSearch. Distance & bearing measured from the suburb midpoint.
ProfessionalPRODevelopment Map for Whitsunday
Applications and major projects plotted where
they are actually proposed, with the
27 projects AreaSearch tracks here on their own tab — filterable by type, delivery stage,
area and committed value. To search every application on record rather
than this sample, use the section above.
DistributionWhere Development Is Happening in Whitsunday
Whitsunday covers 2 statistical areas. Follow any of them through for a full profile of population, housing, sales and amenity at local scale.
Map builder
Each area below opens a map builder on its own page — a tool for
putting a map and a table into a report. Pick the place types you want plotted
(schools, supermarkets, medical, child care, transport and the rest of what
AreaSearch holds), add development applications as their own layer, drop your own
points, then recolour, renumber and export the result as a table or CSV.
A this area only toggle clips everything to the boundary you are looking at.
Searches are charged against your credit balance — 1 credit per 40
results from AreaSearch data — and setting filters costs nothing until
you search. The builder works on one suburb-sized area at a time, which is why it
opens per area rather than across the whole of
Whitsunday.
Development in Whitsunday is assessed within the Whitsunday local government area. AreaSearch publishes development
figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries. That is deliberate: the ABS
issues a separate official building-approvals series for local government areas, and totals
built up from statistical areas would not match it. Reporting at SA3 keeps every figure on this page
reconcilable with the published ABS series.
CompareNearby Development Hubs
The same view of building approvals, applications and
major projects for areas neighbouring Whitsunday.
Collected from council planning portals. The
earliest signal available, but the least certain: many applications are amended,
withdrawn or refused, values are the applicant’s own estimate, and coverage
varies by council. This is a curated set, not the full council feed:
AreaSearch carries applications of material scale and does not track routine minor
works such as signage, fencing or small alterations, so the counts here are lower
than a council’s own total lodgement figure and should not be compared with it. Applications still shown as under assessment more than
18 months after lodgement are reported separately
and kept out of the live-queue figures: the age profile of open applications is
sharply split between a genuine queue under a year old and a long tail of records
councils never closed. Not every state publishes a cost of works — Queensland,
the Northern Territory and the ACT publish none at all — so on those pages
applications are counted rather than valued and no dollar figure is shown
rather than a partial one. Treated here as a snapshot of the current queue only —
AreaSearch does not chart application counts over time, because the history
reflects when each portal was collected rather than when development happened.
Approved — ABS building approvals
The official series, aggregated to SA3 from
ABS building approvals data, currently published to June 2026.
Counts dwelling units approved, not buildings and not completions. The most recent
financial year is annualised from nine months of data wherever it appears and is
labelled as such.
Building — major projects
Projects tracked individually by AreaSearch
from Infrastructure Australia, state infrastructure agencies, developer disclosures
and council records. Values are estimates and delivery dates are targets. Ranked on
this page by committed value and delivery stage rather than by distance.
Delivered — verified new addresses
New residential addresses verified in the national
address register since the 2021 Census. This is the closest available measure of what has
actually been built, though address creation can lead occupation and lags
construction. It is not a completions count.
Boundaries
Whitsunday is Statistical Area Level 3 31203 in the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (2021 edition), made up of 2 Statistical Areas Level 2.
It has an estimated 26,174 residents, +11.9% since the 2021 Census.
Currency
Measure
Source
To
Dwelling approvals, five-year average
ABS / AreaSearch
June 2026
House share of approvals
ABS / AreaSearch
June 2026
Residents per approval
ABS / AreaSearch
June 2026
Value per approved dwelling
ABS / AreaSearch
June 2026
Commercial work approved
ABS / AreaSearch
June 2026
Verified new addresses since the Census
Address register / AreaSearch
May 2026
Development applications
Council planning portals
March 2026
Major projects
Infrastructure Australia / state agencies / AreaSearch
Ongoing
Figures on this page are read live from the
AreaSearch database each time it loads, so they update as soon as a source does.
Development in Whitsunday — common questions
How many new dwellings were approved in Whitsunday?
The ABS recorded 137 dwelling approvals across Whitsunday in the 2024-25 financial year, against a five-year average of 174 a year.
How many development applications are lodged in Whitsunday?
AreaSearch tracks 33 development applications of material scale across Whitsunday — routine minor works such as signage and fencing are not included, so this is not a count of every application lodged. Applications are assessed within the Whitsunday local government area. The most recent application in our data was lodged in March 2026.
What major projects are planned for Whitsunday?
AreaSearch tracks 21 current major projects in Whitsunday, 7 of them under construction. The largest include Whitsunday Community Health Centre Development, Proserpine - Shute Harbour Road Upgrades and Proserpine - Shute Harbour Road Upgrades (Hamilton Plains Flood Immunity and Cannonvale Capacity).
Which council covers Whitsunday?
Whitsunday is an ABS Statistical Area Level 3. It is covered by the Whitsunday local government area. AreaSearch publishes development figures at ABS statistical boundaries rather than council boundaries, so they reconcile with the official ABS series.
Is Whitsunday growing faster than the rest of Queensland?
On development approvals, Whitsunday is adding new dwellings more slowly than Queensland as a whole — 0.53 approvals per 100 existing dwellings a year against the state figure of 0.77.
How current is this development data?
ABS building approvals are published with a lag of roughly four months; this page carries the series to June 2026. Development applications are collected from council planning portals and refresh continuously, with the most recent application here lodged in March 2026. Major project records are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Each section carries its own currency label so the four are never confused.
Development data is provided for general information.
Estimated values, dwelling counts and delivery dates come from the lodging or delivering party and
are not independently verified by AreaSearch. Confirm anything material with the relevant council
or agency before relying on it.
Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as
definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other
investigations from the project’s source for actual imagery. Developers and
project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact
Us and we will do so.