The Cove & the NSW Parliament

North Arm Cove first rated a mention in the NSW Parliament in 1992, and it has been mentioned about a couple of dozen times since. Most of the early mentions were concerns about sales of the paper subdivision land. Many of the more recent ones were in praise of the achievements of the village community and community members. These are some of the earlier references:

On 8 May 1992, Bob Martin, the member for Port Stephens, raised a matter of concern:

My concern is about the planning, zoning and advertising on television of land at North Arm Cove, Port Stephens, which is causing all sorts of problems to people in my electorate. … 
… Land which cannot be built on has been sold at prices up to $10,000 a site.
… People are being duped into buying land that they cannot build on.  It is important that the zoning classification be amended and that there is a moratorium to preclude the sale of that land. 

Speaking on an Auctioneers and Agents (Amendment) Bill in October 1992, John Price, the member for Waratah, said:

… North Arm Cove received a great deal of publicity in the real estate columns of the newspapers, especially those circulating in the Hunter and northern regions. The local council objected  most strongly to rural land being subdivided as though it were residential land and being sold off to people, with a vague promise that it may eventually become available for residential use, though it was known full well that council zoning would not permit that to occur for many years.

The same topic was raised in the Legislative Council, nearly six years on, on 27 May 1998, by the Hon. Jim Kaldis in a question to the Minister for Fair Trading, the Hon. Jeff Shaw. Jeff Shaw replied:

It is often said that if something appears too good to be true, it probably is. One finds that adage vindicated in the area of fair trading. During the years, unwitting purchasers have been taken in by the offer of cheap land at North Arm Cove, Port Stephens. Up to June last year more than 130 people paid more than $1.65 million to just one North Arm Cove land company. Last Thursday advertisements appeared in a Sydney newspaper again promoting very cheap land at North Arm Cove. The advertisements told readers that they can have a block of land in a "natural paradise" on the golden north coast.

The most recent advertisements listed blocks for as low as $7,950, with an average price of $10,000. It sounds too good to be true and, of course, it is. The land is zoned non-urban and the blocks sold cannot be built on, not even for a weekender. Indeed, owners cannot even leave a caravan, or pitch a tent, on their blocks for more than two consecutive days. During the years rumours have circulated that the council will rezone the land to permit building, giving owners a windfall profit when blocks jump in value. …

… All media advertising of the land must warn that it is non-urban. People should be extremely wary about buying land at North Arm Cove and, if they do buy, they should have no illusions about their purchase. The Department of Fair Trading is in frequent contact with North Arm Cove land companies, and officers of the department attend auctions held by companies to make sure that consumers are not misled and that media advertising carries the non-urban zoning warning. I strongly urge prospective purchasers of land at North Arm Cove to seriously consider this warning. I assure the House that my department is taking every possible course of action to alert and protect vulnerable consumers in this marketplace.

Bryce Gaudry, member for Newcastle, was on his feet in November that year to relate a sad story. He referred to a 1982 advertisement in the Daily Mirror under the headline “A Little Piece of Paradise”. It was a land sale ad for the paper-subdivision lots in North Arm Cove. Gaudry mentioned the “succulent prices” as low as $5,950. Many people, he said, took up this “opportunity”.

My constituents Maria and Gerry M* responded to the advertisement. Mrs M* explained to me that her husband saw this as an opportunity to have a country place to go to with lovely fresh air near beautiful Port Stephens, and that it would be a great retirement place. She told me that, unfortunately, Mr M* died three months after they purchased the land. Mrs M* diligently paid the Great Lakes Council approximately $200 a year in rates until this year when, on 30 October, she received from Leary and Company, solicitors, a notice of intention to commence proceedings. According to the solicitors she owed North Arm Cove Landowners Limited $1,169.82 for road maintenance. … 

… I ask honourable members whether they have constituents in similar situations. Are they being defrauded by groups like the North Arm Cove Rezoning Association, which was formerly the Port Stephens City Progress Association that was leading the way to rezone the North Arm Cove. My understanding is that this proposal will not go ahead. Thousands of people have invested their funds in the scheme. They are now being charged a road maintenance levy for roads that have not been maintained. This is an absolute fraud on these people.

On 12 April 2000, there was a debate on a Fair Trading Amendment Bill. John Turner, the member for Myall Lakes, hoped that the amended bill would protect people buying non-urban land in North Arm Cove.

That land cannot be built on even though it contains residential allotments. In earlier days many unscrupulous operators sent messages to people suggesting that they buy the land and build a nice house on it, beside the water. In fact, they could not, and I am sure that the Minister's office would be well aware of this type of problem; it would have been swamped with complaints by thousands of people who bought land from unscrupulous operators.

Later in the debate, John Watkins, the Minister for Fair Trading, responded saying:

I, like the honourable member for Myall Lakes, have concerns about North Arm Cove. If the legislation can be used in that instance it will be used.

Some of the more recent mentions of the Cove in Parliament include this (hopeful) 2005 one from local member John Turner about the upgrade to the Pacific Highway.

There are also problems with the North Arm Cove intersection. That intersection will be cut completely. … It is imperative that they be given safe access to the Pacific Highway and that they be given secondary access into Karuah and Tea Gardens without having to access the highway.

One of the more positive mentions was in June 2008, when Port Stephens member, Craig Baumann, advised the house …

... of the activities of one of my smallest but most vibrant communities, North Arm Cove. …

Many members would be aware of the large number of undeveloped lots without services, roads or building entitlements, which are periodically advertised by marketers whose rhetoric and claims should be examined closely.

This relatively isolated village lies between Karuah and Tea Gardens and has a voting population of 349 who punch well above their weight when it comes to community involvement.

This community fought hard in its attempt to protect Fame Cove and is grateful that Minister Sartor stepped in to take over the determination of development applications that will destroy the pristine character of Fame Cove, after years of State Government neglect. The community would now like to see the Minister for the Environment ensure the future protection of Fame Cove.

I had the honour of being invited to the opening of the new arts and cultural annexe of the North Arm Cove Community Centre on Saturday. In the early 1990s local residents banded together to build a community centre. They realised that this centre was not just going to appear. Funding was tight and grants were scarce, so they fundraised and built the North Arm Cove Community Centre themselves. That was in 1996. Since then they have extended the original hall and added a kitchen. Their third extension, the Weatherley Room, was opened by the Great Lakes Mayor, Councillor John Chadban, on Saturday. … 

Craig went on to praise those members of the community most closely involved with the latest addition to the Centre. He concluded with:

In my 21 years in local government, I cannot remember a better community volunteer effort.

The current local member, Kate Washington, has also been generous in her references in Parliament to the “beautiful” North Arm Cove village and its local volunteers.