Avoca Beach, New South Wales

Avoca Beach is a coastal suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, about 95 kilometres (59 mi) north of Sydney. Avoca Beach is primarily a residential suburb, which is now often considered part of the Greater Sydney area, but also a popular tourist destination. Avoca Beach village has a variety of restaurants and cafes as well as a post office, newsagent, pharmacy and mini-mart.[3] Avoca Beach also has a historic cinema, a hotel, bowling club, motel and caravan park. It is located within the Central Coast Council local government area.

Avoca Beach
Central Coast, New South Wales
Avoca Beach, as seen from the Skillion
Avoca Beach
Coordinates33°27′54″S 151°26′06″E
Population4,584 (2016 census)[1]
 • Density1,146/km2 (2,970/sq mi)
Postcode(s)2251
Area4.0 km2 (1.5 sq mi)
Location
LGA(s)Central Coast Council
ParishKincumber[2]
State electorate(s)Terrigal
Federal Division(s)Robertson
Suburbs around Avoca Beach:
Picketts Valley Terrigal North Avoca
Kincumber Avoca Beach Tasman Sea
Kincumber Kincumber Copacabana

This suburb is unrelated to the NSW Southern Highlands suburb of Avoca, New South Wales, except in name only.

Geography

Avoca Beach is located on the Tasman Sea 17 kilometres (11 mi) east-southeast of the Gosford central business district, and about halfway between Newcastle and Sydney, being about 95 kilometres (59 mi) from each. It is bordered to the north by the Bulbararing Lagoon, to the west by Saltwater Creek and to the east by the ocean.[4]

History

The area was originally inhabited by the Darkinjung & Awabakal Aboriginal people. "Avoca" is an Irish name meaning "great estuary" or "where the river meets the sea", and is also the name of a town in County Wicklow, Ireland.[5]

On 4 January 1830, 640 acres (259 ha) of land in the area were promised to Irish army officer John Moore. However, the official deeds were not issued until 30 September 1839, due to the difficulty in surveying the land. He built a house opposite Bulbararing Lake (now known as Avoca Lake) and planted vines, cereals and fruit trees. He left the area in 1857 for the Victorian goldfields.[6] In the late 19th century, Tom Davis leased the area in order to exploit local timber, which was transported by tram to a mill at Terrigal via what is now Tramway Road in North Avoca.[7]

Avoca Beach in the 1950s

In the 1950s, commercial buildings began to be built and populated, including bakery, service station, butchery, mini mart, caravan park and the Avoca Beach Picture Theatre.

Residential development in Avoca Beach began during the 20th century, and the area subsequently became a popular holiday retreat with wealthy residents of Sydney's North Shore.[7]

In February 2010, following the proposal to scuttle the frigate HMAS Adelaide off the beach as a dive wreck in late March, a resident action group was formed to protest against this.[8] The group claims that the wreck will negatively affect surf conditions, tides, and littoral sand drift, and is concerned over the thoroughness of inspection and removal of dangerous materials and chemicals from the former warship, with the chance that marine life and people could be poisoned.[8][9][10] An appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal three days before the planned scuttling date of 27 March led to a postponement of the plan until the residents' claims were investigated.[11][12] The decision from the Tribunal, in favor of the project going ahead after further cleanup work, was handed down on 15 September 2010, and despite further attempts to delay, Adelaide was scuttled on 13 April 2011.[13][14]

Demographics

At the ABS 2016 census, Avoca Beach had a population of 4,584 people. 76.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 8.9%. 90.9% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion in Avoca Beach were No Religion 34.0%, Catholic 22.5% and Anglican 19.9%.[1]

Avoca Beach residents had a median age of 41, compared with the median of 42 for the Central Coast local government area.[15] Median individual incomes in Avoca Beach were above average for the region — $764 per week compared with $600 per week. The 2016 Census reported 1,527 occupied private dwellings, of which 83.3% were separate houses, and the median monthly housing loan repayment of $2,167 was well above the regional average of $1,750.

In 2020, Avoca Beach's median house price was $1,150,000 versus $940,000 for the Central Coast region.[16] In 2008, Avoca Beach was listed as the fourth most expensive place to live in New South Wales, and the sixteenth most expensive in Australia, based on the sale of units that year.[17]

Education

Avoca Beach has a state primary school, which first opened in 1935. The suburb is within Kincumber High School's catchment area.

Politics

At federal level, Avoca Beach is within the Division of Robertson, which was retained in the 2019 Federal Election by Lucy Wicks of the Liberal Party of Australia, who defeated Labor candidate Anne Charlton.

In the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Avoca Beach is within the electorate of Terrigal, currently held by Adam Crouch of the Liberal Party.

Polling place statistics are presented below from the Avoca Beach polling place in the elections leading up to and including the 2019 federal and state elections as indicated.

2019 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 43.7%
 Labor 32.7%
 Greens 14.2%
 Independent 3.7%
 AJP 1.8%
2016 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 49.1%
 Labor 33.1%
 Greens 2.55%
 CDP 11.3%
 Independent 2.2%
2013 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 43.6%
 Labor 33.2%
 Greens 7.3%
 Independent 9.2%
 Independent 2.5%
2010 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 41.7%
 Labor 37.6%
 Greens 11.7%
 Independent 2.9%
 CDP 2.3%
2007 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 46.1%
 Labor 40.2%
 Greens 10.5%
 CDP 2.09%
 Family First 0.57%
2004 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 53.7%
 Labor 32.3%
 Greens 11.0%
 Family First 1.54%
 One Nation 0.92%
2001 Federal Election
Source: AEC
 Liberal 51.2%
 Labor 30.4%
 Greens 6.14%
 Democrats 3.91%
 Independent 3.36%
2019 State Election
Source: ECNSW
 Liberal 48.2%
 Labor 24.6%
 Greens 12.9%
 Independent 3.9%
 SAP 3.1%
2015 State Election
Source: ECNSW
 Liberal 47.1%
 Labor 30.0%
 Greens 15.4%
 CDP 2.7%
 NLT 1.0%
2011 State Election
Source: ECNSW
 Liberal 61.0%
 Labor 17.8%
 Greens 13.5%
 Independent 3.2%
 CDP 2.9%
2007 State Election
Source: ECNSW
 Liberal 47.6%
 Labor 33.3%
 Greens 12.0%
 CDP 3.05%
 AAFI 1.63%
2003 State Election
Source: ECNSW
 Labor 46.8%
 Liberal 40.0%
 Greens 10.8%
 Democrats 1.06%
 SOS 1.01%
1999 State Election
Source: ECNSW
 Labor 42.5%
 Liberal 40.4%
 One Nation 3,76%
 Democrats 3.60%
 Greens 3.43%
  • Avoca Headland Big surf
  • Avoca from the air
  • Avoca Beach, facing north near the lagoon
  • Surfers and beachgoers on a busy summers day
  • Avoca Beach, New South Wales- facing south towards Surf Club
A panoramic view of Avoca facing south, with a storm building, 2014

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Avoca Beach (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. "Avoca Beach (Suburb)". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  3. "Avoca Beach". Destination NSW. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  4. UBD (2003). Central Coast Street Directory (13 ed.). Universal Press. Map 99. ISBN 0-7319-1475-9.
  5. Gosford City Library. "Placenames". Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
  6. Pratt, Eileen (1978). Place Names of the Central Coast. Brisbane Water Historical Society and The Entrance and District Society. p. 4.
  7. Fairfax Digital (8 February 2004). "Travel - Avoca Beach". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  8. Trembath, Brendan (5 March 2010). "HMAS Adelaide to sleep with the fishes". ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  9. Denice Barnes (February 2010). "Avoca residents step up campaign to delay sinking of ex-HMAS Adelaide". Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  10. West, Andrew (7 March 2010). "Scuttled ship would wreck bay: residents". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  11. ABC News (25 March 2010). "Plans to sink warship scuttled by court order". ABC News. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  12. Tovey, Josephine; Harvey, Ellie (25 March 2010). "Tribunal scuppers plan to sink ship". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  13. Harvey, Ellie; West, Andrew (16 September 2010). "Judge orders tough new rules for scuttling". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  14. McMahon, Jeanette (13 April 2011). "Dolphins delay scuttling of HMAS Adelaide". 1223 ABC Newcastle. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  15. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Central Coast LGA". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  16. Domain (Fairfax Digital) (July 2007). "Locality details - Avoca Beach 2251". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2007.
  17. Cossar, Charlotte (December 2008). "Australia's cheapest and most expensive suburbs". Realestate.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.

Further reading
  • Swancott, Charles (1961). Enchanted waters : Terrigal, Wamberal, Erina, Avoca, Kincumber, etc. (2nd ed.). Woy Woy.
  • Avoca Beach Primary School (1985). Avoca Beach Public School, 50th Anniversary, 1935-1985. ISBN 1-86252-136-0.
  • Coasts and Rivers Branch (1991). Surf environment analysis : Avoca Beach (Report no. 91078). Department of Public Works (NSW). ISBN 0-7305-8655-3.
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