Fern Bay, New South Wales

Fern Bay is the southernmost suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.^[2][3] It is located just north of Stockton, which is the only suburb of Newcastle that lies north of the Hunter River and to the east of the north arm of the Hunter River at the entrance to Fullerton Cove, a large body of water. To the east is the Tasman Sea.^[5] Despite the suburb only being 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) in a direct line from Newcastle, the need to cross the Hunter River results in Fern Bay being 16 km (9.9 mi) by road from the centre of the city.

Fern Bay New South Wales
New housing subdivision works at Fern Bay
Fern Bay
Coordinates	32°52′26″S 151°47′42″E
Population	2,763 (2016 census)[1]
• Density	325.1/km2 (842/sq mi) [lower-alpha 1]
Postcode(s)	2295
Area	8.5 km2 (3.3 sq mi)[lower-alpha 2]
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Location	173 km (107 mi) NNE of Sydney 16 km (10 mi) N of Newcastle 22 km (14 mi) SE of Raymond Terrace
LGA(s)	Port Stephens Council[2]
Region	Hunter
County	Gloucester[3]
Parish	Stockton[3]
State electorate(s)	Newcastle
Federal division(s)	Paterson
Mean max temp[4] Mean min temp[4] Annual rainfall[4] 25.5 °C 78 °F 8.4 °C 47 °F 1,140.8 mm 44.9 in
Suburbs around Fern Bay: Fullerton Cove Fullerton Cove Fullerton Cove Fullerton Cove, Hunter River (north arm) Fern Bay Tasman Sea Hunter River (North Arm) Stockton Tasman Sea

The area is undergoing a residential expansion program with a large development being built between Nelson Bay Road and Stockton Beach on land formerly used as a military weapons range.^[6][7]

History

The Worimi people are the traditional owners of the Port Stephens area.^[8]

Population

83.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 3.8%. 91.7% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 26.2%, No Religion 26.0% and Catholic 21.3%.^[1]

Notes

1. This is the average density for the whole suburb, which contains large tracts of marshlands, beaches and coastal scrubland, none of which is populated.
2. Area calculation is based on NSW 1:100000 map 9232 NEWCASTLE.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Fern Bay (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
2. "Suburb Search – Local Council Boundaries – Hunter (HT) – Port Stephens". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
3. "Fern Bay". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
4. "Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
5. "Fern Bay". Land and Property Management Authority - Spatial Information eXchange. New South Wales Land and Property Information. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
6. "Fern Bay development before Govt". ABC News. 26 May 2005. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
7. "Stockton Bight National Park Proposal". Parliament of New South Wales. 28 November 2000. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
8. "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people". Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2020.

External links

• Fern Bay at Australian Explorer
• Media related to Fern Bay, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons