Taree – Wingham

Hunter, Manning & Central Coast

Taree and Wingham, are within 15 minutes drive of each other, both are located on the Manning River and surrounded by rich rural farmland.

A Grouping

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Location

Taree is 313 km (3 hr 40 min drive) north from Sydney and 172 km (2 hr drive) from Newcastle. Taree is only 41 km (40 min drive) north of the bustling seaside towns of Forster-Tuncurry and 81 km (60 min drive) south from the regional centre of Port Macquarie.

Wingham is only 12 km (13 min drive) from Taree.

The riverside location of Taree and Wingham make them popular for boating, canoeing, swimming, fishing and water skiing. Both towns share a heritage of logging that has given way to dairying and beef cattle. Taree is also known for oyster production and is home to the big oyster.

How to get there

Taree Airport is serviced by FlyPelican with flights to and from Sydney and Newcastle.

The larger Port Macquarie Airport is 83 km (60 min drive) from Taree. Qantas and Virgin Australia operate daily services to Sydney. Virgin Australia also operates direct services to Brisbane and Qantas operates seasonal summer services (October - May) from Port Macquarie to Lord Howe Island.

There are NSW TrainLink services from Taree and Wingham to Sydney and Port Macquarie. The North Coast XPT Train service travels from Brisbane to Sydney and back on a daily basis, stopping at Taree.

Population

Taree - Wingham is home to almost 26,000 people, the median age of residents is 46 years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make up over 9% of the population.

The towns are located in the North Coast Primary Health Network, this needs assessment provides an insight into population health across the North Coast community.

Healthcare facilities

Located in Taree, Manning Base Hospital is a regional hospital. The hospital has 160 beds, a four bed ICU and six bed cardiac care unit, with an adjacent six bed high dependency unit, an emergency department, medical, surgical and children’s wards. There is a co-located mental health unit and a community health unit. It is a teaching hospital for the Joint Medical Program, based at University of New England.

Mayo Private Hospital is an 81-bed acute medical, surgical, rehabilitation and mental health facility located in Taree. It has the only private, inpatient mental health unit between Newcastle and Coffs Harbour offering inpatient and day mental health programs.

Wingham Community Hospital is a 24 hour sub-acute rehabilitation unit providing services, such as, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, social work, medical assessment and management as well as providing an outpatient service for allied health assessment and therapy.

There is an Ambulance Service of NSW station in Taree.

Accredited GP practices

Access Health Care - Taree
HealthHub Taree
Manning Valley Medical
Taree Medical Centre
Wingham Family Health Clinic
Wingham Wellbeing
Wynter Street Medical Centre

Industry

The major industry sectors employing residents of Taree are: aged care residential services, hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals), supermarket and grocery stores, takeaway food services, and other social assistance services. Whilst in Wingham the major industry sectors employing residents are: hospitals (except psychiatric hospitals), aged care residential services, meat processing, supermarket and grocery stores and other social assistance services.

Education

There are a range of public and private primary and high schools in Taree and Wingham, with seven primary schools and three high schools.

Childcare

For young families Taree and Wingham offer a range of childcare options including occasional care, long day care, family day care, out of school hours care and pre-school.

Shopping

Taree has a range of shopping in the main street and shopping complex that include Coles, Woolworths, Big W, specialty and boutique stores, cafés, eateries and restaurants. Wingham has a small shopping plaza including a Coles and numerous specialty and boutique retail stores. An hour drive away, Port Macquarie is well placed for shopping with supermarkets including Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Spar and IGA. Major retailers such as Target, Kmart, Officeworks and Big W are all located in Port Macquarie.

Places of worship

There are many places of worship in Taree and Wingham including Anglican, Assembles of God, Baptist, Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist and Uniting churches. In Forster/Tuncurry (40 min drive from Taree) and Port Macquarie (60 min drive from Taree) there are Buddhist centres.

Points of interest

As a regional centre there is a lot on offer in Taree including sporting and recreational clubs, cinemas and shopping as well as music, arts and cultural events, food festivals, art festivals and more. The township of Wingham has been built around a central park, which is surrounded by National Trust-listed Federation buildings, that can be explored on a self-guided tour of the town. Boardwalks through Wingham Brush Nature Reserve, make it easy to explore one of the last surviving pockets of subtropical floodplain rainforest in NSW, home to a vast array of plants and animals. Both towns are within easy reach of beautiful beaches and national parks, and wineries. Local events including weekly farmers markets are listed at Manning Valley Events.

Sporting activities

There is a large range of sporting facilities, sporting clubs and teams in Taree and Wingham, including golf, fishing, mountain biking, netball, basketball, dressage, tennis, soccer and rugby league.

Community groups and activities

In Taree and Wingham, community groups and volunteer organisations include the Taree Film Society, Taree Lions Club, Taree City SES, Wingham SES, Taree Rural Fire Brigade, PCYC Taree, Taree Arts Council Inc and Wingham Rotary Club.