Town by town snapshot: Torquay

The size of Torquay is approximately 34.5 square kilometres, not including Jan Juc, and contains three parks covering nearly 1 per cent of total area plus the Deep Creek reserve and foreshore areas.

The population of Torquay in 2011 was 10,141 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 13,268, showing a population growth of 30.8 per cent in the area during that time.

The first lots were created in 1880 when the town was known as Spring Creek and by 1888 a coffee palace was opened for visitors and holiday makers.

The next year a town improvement association was formed and in 1892 Spring Creek was named Torquay after the popular seaside town in Devon, England.

By the early 1920s, Torquay had three stores, the Palace hotel (former coffee palace), Follett’s boarding house and a golf links.

Bells Beach, seven kilometres south west of Torquay, became a premier surfing venue with its first carnival, the Bells Beach Easter Classic, held in the early 1960’s. This led to the first Rip Curl Pro in 1973 where surfers competed for cash prizes which amounted to little more than their petrol and living expenses, this first contest was won by the legendary Michael Peterson.

Torquay’s population swells to over 40,000 people throughout the Easter period with the Rip Curl Pro attracting visitors from around the world to this premier event.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Torquay is 0-9 years with households inTorquay being primarily couples with children and are likely to be repaying $1,800 – $2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Torquay work in a professional occupation.

In 2011, 72 per cent of the homes in Torquay were owner-occupied compared with 73.4 per cent in 2016