Avoca Beach () is a coastal

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of the Central Coast region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, about north of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Avoca Beach is primarily a residential suburb, Avoca Beach is also a popular tourist destination. Avoca Beach is known for its surfing and state (regional) surf competitions. It is located within the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Avoca Beach village has a variety of restaurants and cafes as well as a post office, newsagent, pharmacy and mini-mart. Avoca Beach also has a historic cinema, a hotel, bowling club, motel and caravan park. This coastal suburb is unrelated to the NSW Southern Highlands locality of

Avoca, New South Wales Avoca () is a small town in the Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. Situated 700 m above sea level, Avoca is just 15 minutes drive from bigger towns such as Bowral and ...

, except in name only.

Geography

Avoca Beach is located on the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

east-southeast of the

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, and about halfway between

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and

, being about 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.

History

The area was originally inhabited by the Darkinjung &

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

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 A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. On 4 January 1830, of land in the area were promised to Irish army officer John Moore. However, the official

deed A deed is a legal document that is signed and delivered, especially concerning the ownership of property or legal rights. Specifically, in common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right ...

s were not issued until 30 September 1839, due to the difficulty in

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

the land. He built a house opposite Bulbararing Lake (now known as Avoca Lake) and planted vines,

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

s and fruit trees. He left the area in 1857 for the Victorian goldfields. 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 Terrigal is a coastal town on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, located east of Gosford on the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the local government area. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of . History Terrigal was fi ...

via what is now Tramway Road in North Avoca. In the 1950s, commercial buildings began to be built and populated, including bakery, service station, butchery, mini mart, caravan park and the Avoca Beach 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. In February 2010, following the proposal to scuttle the frigate off the beach as a

dive wreck Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. The term is used mainly by recreational and technical divers. Professional divers, when diving on a shipwreck, generally ref ...

in late March, a

resident action group NIMBY (, or nimby), an acronym for the phrase "Not In My Back Yard", is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed real estate development and infrastructure developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land us ...

was formed to protest against this. 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. An appeal to the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...

three days before the planned scuttling date of 27 March led to a postponement of the plan until the residents' claims were investigated. 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.

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%. Avoca Beach residents had a median age of 41, compared with the median of 42 for the Central Coast local government area. 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.

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 The Division of Robertson is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. Geography Since 1984, federal electoral division boundari ...

. In the Federal election of May 2022 it was won by Gordon Reid of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

, previously held for nine years by Lucy Wicks of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

. In the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

, Avoca Beach is within the electorate of

, 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.

Gallery

File:Avoca Headland Big surf - panoramio.jpg, Avoca Headland Big surf File:Avoca from the air - panoramio.jpg, Avoca from the air File:Avoca Beach, New South Wales 04.jpg, Avoca Beach, facing north near the lagoon File:Surfers at Avoca Beach, New South Wales.jpg, Surfers and beachgoers on a busy summers day File:Avoca Beach, New South Wales- facing south towards Surf Club.jpg, Avoca Beach, New South Wales- facing south towards Surf Club

References

External links

DCP 159 - Character Statement for Avoca
(Gosford City Council)
Artificial Reef Dive
(NSW Dept of Lands) {{Suburbs of Central Coast (New South Wales) Suburbs of the Central Coast (New South Wales)