Toormina, New South Wales

Toormina is a suburb in the City of Coffs Harbour, on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the city's south, Toormina is near the seaside suburb of Sawtell.

History

The suburb was developed in the 1980s by Mr Patrick Hargraves, a local landowner who owned a large amount of land within the Coffs Harbour and Sawtell area. Hargraves holidayed in Sawtell with his family annually for Christmas during the 1960s and says that he ″saw the opportunity for expansion in new subdivisions to the west of the existing centre and slowly bought the land that now is Toormina″.^[2]

The suburb’s name ′Toormina′ was inspired by local residents. Some of Hargraves′ clients, who were Italian residents living in the area, suggested the name Taormina based on the famous resort area in Sicily, Italy. Hargraves decided that the name sounded better without the ′a′ and changed the name to Toormina.^[3]

The suburb is connected to Coffs Harbour by Hogbin Drive, commonly referred to as the Link Road, and is serviced by Sawtell Coaches and Busways. During the subdivision of the land along Hogbin Drive, which was involved in the development of Toormina, Hargraves agreed to a land swap with the Coffs Harbour and District RSL for the Coffs Harbour Education Campus^[4] and also donated land for the Coffs Harbour Catholic High School, St. John Paul College.^[5]

Schools

The area's education is covered by Toormina High School, Toormina Primary School and (Bayldon) Primary School, and a number of independent schools including the Catholic Primary School Mary Help of Christians.

Toormina Gardens

A local shopping centre, Toormina Gardens, was built in the 1980s to service the growing population in south Coffs Harbour. Situated off Toormina road, the centre was bought in 2001 by