The popular NSW holiday destination area of Lake Macquarie is being transformed at a breakneck rate with a frenzy of construction and development in the area.
According to a spokesperson for Lake Macquarie council, it has to date approved 2681 development applications worth $607 million in 2016/17, about 550 more than in 2015/16, which is a 23.5 percent increase.
Council currently has 580 DAs under assessment and last week received 87 new DAs, the highest weekly lodgement this year.
For its part, Newcastle is going through a $900 million transformation with major public works like the Newcastle light rail.
But for Lake Macquarie, the money just keeps pouring in with over $300 million worth of development currently in the pipeline including the $80 million Water’s Edge apartments proposed for the Esplanade at Warners Bay.
A large part of this growth is in medium-density housing – 204 medium-density housing applications were approved between 2006 and 2016 – and there is a lot of new subdivision development in the LGA, with capacity for much more greenfield development.
“We have nine major town centres around the lake. Medium-density has tended to cluster around those town centres, with the majority of approvals within one kilometre of a town centre. The City is seeing increased demand for inner city-style living with the construction of a number of residential complexes in and around town centres such as Charlestown, Belmont, Warners Bay and Toronto,” the spokesperson says.
According to mayor Kay Fraser, “Lake Macquarie is set for a positive and exciting future, with a high level of investor confidence demonstrated by significant developments either ready to commence, under way or recently completed.”
