City of Coffs Harbour

This article is about the local government area. For the regional city, see Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.

The City of Coffs Harbour (also known as the Coffs Harbour City Council) is a local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The area under administration is 1,175 square kilometres (454 sq mi), expanded in 2004 to take in parts of the former Pristine Waters local government area.

City of Coffs Harbour New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	30°19′S 153°07′E
Population	72,944 (2016 census)[1] 78,759 (2021)[2]
• Density	62.080/km2 (160.79/sq mi)
Established	1 September 1987 (1987-09-01)
Area	1,175 km2 (453.7 sq mi)[3]
Mayor	Nikki Williams (Independent National)[4]
Council seat	Coffs Harbour
Region	Mid North Coast
State electorate(s)	Coffs Harbour
Federal division(s)	Cowper Page
Website	City of Coffs Harbour
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 27 °C 81 °F 6.6 °C 44 °F 1,647.3 mm 64.9 in
LGAs around City of Coffs Harbour: Clarence Valley Clarence Valley Tasman Sea Clarence Valley City of Coffs Harbour Tasman Sea Bellingen Bellingen Tasman Sea

The administrative seat is located in Coffs Harbour; and the area is adjacent to the Pacific Highway, and the North Coast railway line.

The mayor of the City of Coffs Harbour is Nikki Williams, who is an Independent National politician.^[5]

Towns and localities

Towns and localities in the City of Coffs Harbour are listed below.

Coffs Harbour suburbs

• Coffs Harbour
• Boambee
• Boambee East
• Bonville
• Brooklana
• Bucca
• Coramba
• Corindi Beach
• Crossmaglen
• Emerald Beach
• Karangi
• Korora
• Lowanna
• Nana Glen
• Timmsvale
• Toormina
• Upper Orara

Other

• Arrawarra
• Corindi
• Emerald Beach
• Moonee Beach
• Mullaway Beach
• Red Rock
• Sandy Beach
• Sapphire Beach
• Sawtell
• Toormina
• Ulong
• Upper Corindi
• Woolgoolga

Heritage listings

The City of Coffs Harbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• High Conservation Value Old Growth forest^[6]
• Coffs Harbour Regional Museum^[7]

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 68,413 people in the Coffs Harbour local government area, of these 48.5% were male and 51.5% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.1% of the population, nearly double the national average. The median age of people in the City of Coffs Harbour was 42 years; some five years higher than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.0% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 48.4% were married and 14.8% were either divorced or separated.^[8]

Population growth in the City of Coffs Harbour between the 2001 Census and the 2006 census was 11.94%; and in the subsequent five years was 5.40%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Coffs Harbour local government area was higher than the national average.^[9] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Coffs Harbour was slightly below the national average.^[8][10]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Coffs Harbour local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 82% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 55.4% of all residents in the City of Coffs Harbour nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was slightly above the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Coffs Harbour local government area had a lower than average proportion (6.6%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (90.3%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%). A significant exception was that households in the Coffs Harbour local government area where Punjabi was spoken was three times the national average.^[8]

Selected historical census data for Coffs Harbour local government area
Census year			2001[9]	2006[10]	2011[8]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	61,186	64,910	68,413	72,944
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			30th
		% of New South Wales population			0.99%
		% of Australian population	0.33%	0.33%	0.32%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			31.5%
		English			31.2%
		Irish			9.0%
		Scottish			7.7%
		German			3.2%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Punjabi	1.0%	1.0%	1.3%
		German	0.4%	0.5%	0.5%
		Italian	0.4%	0.4%	0.4%
		Dinka	n/c	n/c	0.2%
		French	n/c	n/c	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Anglican	28.9%	27.1%	24.5%
		No Religion	14.5%	18.5%	23.1%
		Catholic	23.2%	23.0%	22.2%
		Uniting Church	6.2%	5.0%	4.4%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	5.1%	4.6%	4.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$364	A$469
		% of Australian median income		78.1%	81.3%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$706	A$1,097
		% of Australian median income		68.7%	74.1%
Household income		Median weekly household income			A$902
		% of Australian median income		77.7%	73.1%

Council

Current composition and election method

Coffs Harbour City Council is composed of nine councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is directly elected while the eight other councillors are elected proportionally as one entire ward. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Team Nikki Williams	4
	Team Moose Group	2
	Better Coffs Coast Group	1
	Labor	1
	Greens	1
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2024, in order of election, is:^[11]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Nikki Willams	Independent[12]	Mayor Team Nikki Williams
	Cath Fowler	Independent	Team Nikki Group
	Paul Amos	Independent	Team Moose Group
	Les Oxford	Independent	Team Nikki Group
	Julie Sechi	Independent	Team Moose Group
	Gurminder Saro	Independent	Team Nikki Group
	Jonathan Cassell	Greens
	George Cecato	Independent	Better Coffs Coast Group
	Tony Judge	Labor

Election results

2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Coffs Harbour^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Nikki	1. Nikki Williams (elected mayor) 2. Cath Fowler (elected 1) 3. Les Oxford (elected 3) 4. Gurminder Saro (elected 5) 5. Matt Gosling 6. Falak Othman 7. Clinton Hayes 8. Barbara Haigh 9. Neil Manson	15,428	34.1
	Team Moose	1. Paul Amos (elected 2) 2. Julie Sechi (elected 4) 3. Scott Wolgamot 4. Sally Townley	10,361	22.9	+0.4
	Labor	1. Tony Judge (elected 6) 2. Htun Htun Oo 3. Lealah Durow 4. Glenis Hunter 5. Danny Wilson	4,356	9.6	−1.0
	Greens	1. Jonathan Cassell (elected 7) 2. Tim Nott 3. Eugenie Gerlach 4. Elaine Sherwood 5. Olivier La Mer-Adair	3,956	8.6	−0.3
	Better Coffs Coast	1. George Cecato (elected 8) 2. Jesse Young 3. Jeffrey (Jack) Dix 4. Tiga Cross 5. Matthew Culgan 6. Katherine Listkow	3,798	8.4	−5.8
	Together We Thrive	1. Tegan Swan 2. Marcus Blackwell 3. Lucas Craig 4. Lisa Nichols 5. Mel Browne	3,677	8.1	−2.5
	Independent	1. Rodney Fox 2. Nicole Bourne 3. Michael Thompson-Blair 4. Dudley Mitchell-Adams	2,992	6.6
	Independent	1. John O'Brien 2. Jasmine Braun 3. Dorothea Skoludek 4. Kristel O'Brien	626	1.4
Total formal votes			45,194	91.5
Informal votes			4,206	8.5
Turnout			49,400	83.8

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Mid North Coast § Coffs Harbour results.[edit]

2021

Elected councillor		Party
	Scott Wolgamot	Team Moose
	George Cecato	Coffs Coast First
	Rodger Pryce	TWFI
	Tegan Swan	Ind. National
	Tony Judge	Labor
	Julie Sechi	Team Moose
	Jonathan Cassell	Greens
	Sally Townley	Independent (Group F)

2021 New South Wales local elections: Coffs Harbour^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Moose		9,838	22.6
	Together We'll Fix It		6,316	14.5
	Coffs Coast First		6,192	14.2
	Independent National		4,638	10.6
	Labor		4,623	10.6
	Independent (Group F)		4,047	9.3
	Greens		3,933	9.0
	Independent (Group E)		1,743	4.0
	Independent (Group A)		1,704	3.9
	Independent	Donna Pike	413	0.9
	Liberal Democrats		140	0.3
Total formal votes			43,587	92.7
Informal votes			3,410	7.3
Turnout			46,997	82.9

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Mid North Coast § Coffs Harbour.[edit]

Sister city

The city of Coffs Harbour has one sister city:^[22]

• Sasebo, Japan

See also

• New South Wales portal

• Coffs Harbour Shire
• Local government in New South Wales

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Coffs Harbour (C)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
2. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
3. "Coffs Harbour City Council". NSW Department of Local Government. Archived from the original on 29 July 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
4. https://elections.nsw.gov.au/candidatewebpage/getcandidatefile?NominationId=ODlhODBlOTItYmM0MS00YTMyLWJiOWItNjhlMjU5NDI4ODM3&pdfName=NIKKI_WILLIAMS_C_COFFSHARBOUR_CIS_CWP#toolbar=0
5. "City of Coffs Harbour – Mayoral Election Results". NSW Electoral Commission. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
6. "High Conservation Value Old Growth forest". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01487. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
7. "Local Heritage Resources". Coffs Harbour Libraries. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017.
8. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Coffs Harbour (C)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
9. Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Coffs Harbour (C)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
10. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Coffs Harbour (C)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
11. "City of Coffs Harbour – Councillor Election results". NSW Electoral Commission. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
12. https://elections.nsw.gov.au/candidatewebpage/getcandidatefile?NominationId=ODlhODBlOTItYmM0MS00YTMyLWJiOWItNjhlMjU5NDI4ODM3&pdfName=NIKKI_WILLIAMS_C_COFFSHARBOUR_CIS_CWP#toolbar=0
13. "Declared political party affiliations". Facebook. Moose for Mayor. 30 August 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
14. "Bringing common sense, care and community to Council". nikkiwilliamsformayor.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
15. "Meet your Team Nikki candidates". Facebook. Nikki Williams for Mayor - Coffs Harbour. 6 September 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
16. "Screenshot so you know how to VOTE TEAM MOOSE". Facebook. Moose for Mayor. 13 September 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
17. "Jonathan Cassell". Greens on Council. 30 May 2024. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
18. "Our vision for Coffs Harbour is simple: to create a thriving, sustainable, and vibrant community for EVERYONE". Facebook. Tegan Swan. 6 September 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
19. "FALAK OTHMAN". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
20. "NEIL MANSON". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
21. "City of Coffs Harbour". ABC News.
22. "Sister City Sasebo". Coffs Harbour City Council. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.