Manning-Great Lakes Police District

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The Manning Great Lakes Local Area Command encompasses the local government areas of Greater Taree City Council, Great Lakes and Gloucester Shires which covers an area of approximately 10, 000 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 90, 000 people of which 3, 000 are Aboriginal. The LAC has two large aboriginal communities at Purfleet near Taree and Cabarita in Forster.

Greater Taree City Council covers the major urban centres of Taree, Wingham, Old Bar, Cundletown, Harrington, Hallidays Point, Tinonee and Coopernook. Within this LAC, Great Lakes Council covers the major urban centres of Forster /Tuncurry, Bulahdelah, Nabiac, Smith Lakes, and Pacific Palms. The Great Lakes area has been identified as one of this State’s highest population growth areas. Gloucester Council covers the major urban centre of Gloucester and Barrington.

The LAC has been identified as the second most popular tourist resort in NSW. It is estimated that approximately 2 million people visit the area each year.

The LAC has over 1000 square kilometres of National Parks including the Myall Lakes National Park, Booti Booti National Park and the Barrington and Gloucester Tops National Parks all of which attract large numbers of visitors every year. There are also 18 State Forests in its area. To the east it is bounded by over 120 kilometres of coastline, mostly beaches, most of which are serviced and developed as tourist destinations.

The Pacific Highway Taree bypass opened in 1998. This represented major traffic deviation away from Taree’s CBD and allowed for major upgrade of Taree’s Main Street. The Bulahdelah bypass opened in August 1999 and significantly improved driver safety and reduced fatalities in one of the major state black spots along with the Coopernook bypass in March 2006 and the Nabiac interchange which opened in August 2006.

Manning Great Lakes LAC is part of the Northern Region and its Region Commander is Assistant Commissioner Lee Shearer. The Local Area Commander is Superintendent Paul Fehon. The Command is located at Forster Police Station.