Development to Conservation - North Arm Cove NSW - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Located within Yallarwah Park in North Arm Cove, this sign is the fourth and final installment in a series dedicated to exploring the local history and contributing to placemaking within the area. This particular sign chronicles the evolution of land use in North Arm Cove, from the speculative development plans of Henry Halloran to the later environmental considerations and rezoning efforts. The sign reads:

Yallarwah Park
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Development to Conservation

Henry Ferdinand Halloran
An imaginative speculator, Henry Halloran formed Port Stephens Development Ltd in August 1919, and took over the Port Stephens City development. Halloran substantially modified Burley Griffins' design, removing waterfront gardens, adding a new street (Cove Boulevard), and creating another 200 building blocks, with a majority of them reaching right to the water's edge.
He divided the development into three subdivisions, and commenced sales of lots in the first subdivision of Port Stephens City in the easter weekend in 1920. Halloran made elaborate claims about the attractiveness of his developments, and published brightly coloured lithographs and descriptive sales booklets for them.
By the late 1920s, sales had ground to a standstill, with the failure of plans for the port and rail line, and the impact of the depression. In 1930, Halloran formed a separate company "Reality Realizations" to sell the properties.
Over the next few decades, fishing shacks and holiday cottages gradually began to dot the area. There were around 30 of these by 1950. In the early 1960s, Council defined the limits of the village area declaring that all those lots outside the village area would remain rural.
The Government refers to relics such as Port Stephens City as "paper subdivisions", since they mostly have no formed roads, drainage, reticulated water, sewer or electricity. There are close to 3,500 lots in the Port Stephens City subdivisions, with most of these between 300 and 1,000 square metres in area.
During the 1980s and 1990s, developers sold many of the paper subdivision blocks offering buyers false hope that Council would soon allow buildings to be constructed on them. Owners of these blocks still have to pay rates. Over time, the local Council has become the owner of nearly 1,000 of them for people failing to pay their rates.

Council Rezoning Plans
In May 2024, as part of the preparation of the MidCoast Local Environmental Plan, MidCoast Council proposed to rezone the paper subdivision to an Environmental Living zone, only permitting a dwelling on a minimum lot size of 5 hectares, subject to Council consent.
This move reflects constraints including environmental sensitivity, biodiversity values, lack of infrastructure, bushfire hazards, and road access.

Group that erected the marker: North Arm Cove Community Association; Karuah Local Aboriginal Land Council; MidCoast Council; NSW Government Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Yallarwah Park, The Ridgeway Worimi Country North Arm Cove, NSW Australia 2324 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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