Raymond Terrace

Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about 26 km by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers and has about 12,600 residents. It is the administrative centre of the Port Stephens LGA as well as a service hub for surrounding rural areas. A fleet of prawn trawlers is based at Raymond Terrace.

Geography
Raymond Terrace consists of 3 distinct regions. The north and south regions are primarily rural/semi-rural and occupy approximately 74% of the town's land with only 3% of the population living in these areas. Most of the population lives in the town itself.

The centre of the town where the shopping district is located is adjacent to the Hunter River, just south of the confluence of the two rivers. Access to the northern sides of the rivers is via the Fitzgerald bridge which crosses the Williams River just north-east of the confluence. When the Hunter River is in flood access is often not possible. The town itself is protected by levee banks and other flood mitigation devices however some lower parts of the town still flood. During the 2007 Hunter region and Central Coast storms water rose high enough within the town to flood the parking level under the Raymond Terrace Marketplace shopping centre.

In 1998 the Raymond Terrace bypass on the Pacific Highway was opened, diverting traffic away from the town centre. Most of the town now lies to the north-west of the bypass between the Hunter and Williams rivers however the suburb of Lakeside lies to the east of the bypass, between the bypass and the wall of Grahamstown Dam.

Emergency services
All emergency service providers are represented in the town. The Police and Fire Stations are both situated on William St and the Ambulance Station is located on Adelaide St (old Pacific Highway), a short distance away. The NSW Rural Fire Service and SES share a facility located North of the town between Rees James Road and the Pacific Highway. The nearest hospitals are the Mater Misericordiae, John Hunter and Maitland Hospitals. The Newcastle Mater Misericordiae and John Hunter hospitals are located in Newcastle to the southwest while Maitland Hospital is located in Maitland, to the northwest. All three are approximately 20-30 minutes driving time from the town.

Education
The town has four primary schools, St. Brigid's Catholic, Raymond Terrace Public, Irrawang Public and Grahamstown Public, and two high schools, Irrawang High School and Hunter River High School.

Shopping
There are two main shopping centres in the town centre which is based around William Street. The Raymond Terrace Marketplace, located north-east of William Street, was opened in 1998 while Centro Plaza (formerly Raymond Terrace Plaza) is located to the south-west. Both contain supermarkets and a variety of specialty shops and are within a short walking distance of each other. The Raymond Terrace Marketplace also contains a Big W department store. Shops also line William St and the adjacent Port Stephens St and Sturgeon St. On 29 May 2008 an Aldi supermarket opened at the corner of Port Stephens and Kangaroo streets, bringing the total number of supermarkets in the town to three, all within 600 m of each other.

Recreation
There are several competitive sporting teams based in the Raymond Terrace area. The Raymond Terrace Magpies are the town's local Rugby League team, participating in the Newcastle Rugby League Competition. The town is represented in cricket by the Lions, a club that participates in the Maitland District Cricket Competition. Other popular sports within the town are soccer, netball, athletics, golf and lawn bowls. There are two licensed clubs, Muree Golf Club and The Raymond Terrace Bowling Club, as well as a number of public bars. The majority of the sporting fields are located near the centre of town, on land that runs along the Williams and Hunter Rivers with other sporting fields located in the suburb of Lakeside, adjacent to Grahamstown Dam.

There is a boat ramp adjacent to the Fitzgerald Bridge, which crosses the Williams River, and the area is popular with water skiers and fisherpeople.