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) [a]
Postcode(s)	2295
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Area	8.5 km2 (3.3 sq mi)[b]
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.