Avoca Beach, New South Wales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Avoca Beach
Central Coast, New South Wales

Population:

4,196 (2006 census)^[1]

Postcode:

2251

Area:

4.0 km² (1.5 sq mi)

Property Value:

AUD $571,250 (Q2 2007)^[2]

Location:

94 km (58 mi) NNE of Sydney
17 km (11 mi) ESE of Gosford
8 km (5 mi) S of Terrigal

LGA:

City of Gosford

Parish:

Kincumber^[3]

State District:

Terrigal

Federal Division:

Robertson

Suburbs around Avoca Beach:
Picketts Valley	Terrigal	North Avoca
Kincumber	Avoca Beach	Tasman Sea
Kincumber	Kincumber	Copacabana

Avoca Beach is a coastal suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, about 95 kilometres (59 mi) north of Sydney.A famous person that comes from here is Angus Mcfadden.^[4] It is located within the City of Gosford local government area. The founder of Avoca was former wheat grower Sam Avoca Gorey. It has recently been voted the 4th most expensive place to live in NSW.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Politics
5 References
6 Further reading
7 Clubs
8 School
9 External links

[edit] 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.^[5]

[edit] History

The area was originally inhabited by the 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.^[6]

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.^[7] 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.^[4]

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.^[4]

[edit] Demographics

At the ABS 2006 census, Avoca Beach had a population of 4,196 people.^[1] This was an increase of 106 people from the 2001 census.^[8]

Avoca Beach residents had a median age of 38, compared to the Central Coast average of 40.^[9] Median individual incomes in Avoca Beach were above average for the region — $515 per week compared with $407 per week. The 2006 Census reported 1,513 occupied private dwellings, of which 7.8% were non-permanent (caravans, cabins and houseboats), and the median monthly housing loan repayment of $1,720 was well above the regional average of $1,500. In the year to July 2007, Avoca Beach's median house price was $571,250 versus $350,000 for the Central Coast region.^[2]

The population of Avoca Beach is predominantly Australian-born, with some 80.5% of its residents being born in Australia as at the 2006 census.^[1] The second most prevalent birthplace was the United Kingdom at 7.36%, followed by New Zealand, South Africa and Germany. The most popular religious affiliations in descending order in the 2006 census were Roman Catholic, Anglican, no religion, Uniting.

[edit] Politics

At federal level, Avoca Beach is within the Division of Robertson, which has been held since 2007 by Belinda Neal of the Australian Labor Party, who defeated Liberal incumbent Jim Lloyd on a 7.0% swing. While Avoca Beach's booth has always been more favourable to the Liberals than the electorate as a whole, the swing to Labor of 6.78% at Avoca Beach was consistent with the rest of the electorate.^[10]^[11]

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

Polling place statistics are presented below from the Avoca Beach polling place in the federal and state elections as indicated.

2007 Federal Election Source: AEC [1]
	Liberal	46.1%
	Labor	40.2%
	Greens	10.5%
	CDP	2.09%
	Family First	0.57%

2004 Federal Election Source: AEC [2]
	Liberal	53.7%
	Labor	32.3%
	Greens	11.0%
	Family First	1.54%
	One Nation	0.92%

2001 Federal Election Source: AEC [3]
	Liberal	51.2%
	Labor	30.4%
	Greens	6.14%
	Democrats	3.91%
	Independent	3.36%

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%

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b ^c Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Avoca Beach (State Suburb). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ ^a ^b Domain (Fairfax Digital) (July 2007). Locality details - Avoca Beach 2251. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Geographical Names Register Extract - Avoca Beach (Suburb). Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ ^a ^b ^c Fairfax Digital (8 February 2004). Travel - Avoca Beach. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ UBD (2003). Central Coast Street Directory, 13, Universal Press, Map 99. ISBN 0-7319-1475-9.
^ Gosford City Library. Placenames. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Pratt, Eileen (1978). Place Names of the Central Coast. Brisbane Water Historical Society and The Entrance and District Society, 4.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (19 November 2002). Community Profile Series : Avoca Beach (State Suburb). 2001 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Gosford-Wyong (Statistical Region). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation (21 December 2007). Robertson (Key Seat) - Green Guide. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
^ Australian Electoral Commission (27 November 2007). Polling Place - Avoca Beach. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.

[edit] Further reading

Swancott, Charles (1961). Enchanted waters : Terrigal, Wamberal, Erina, Avoca, Kincumber, etc. (2nd ed.).
Avoca Beach Primary School (1985). Avoca Beach Public School, 50th Anniversary, 1935-1985. ISBN 1-8625213-6-0.
Coasts and Rivers Branch (1991). Surf environment analysis : Avoca Beach (Report no. 91078). Department of Public Works (NSW). ISBN 0-7305865-5-3.