Dream fields: build and more will come

Regional Victoria is booming as developers realise its untapped potential, reports Michelle Draper

FOUR years ago, Jessie and Bruce McCallum decided they needed a breath of fresh country air. Mr McCallum was about to retire, so the Melbourne-based couple opted for a sea change. Or, as Jessie McCallum likes to call it, a "lake-change".

The couple packed up and moved to Yarrawonga in the state's north, on the banks of Lake Mulwala, where they had spent many holidays. "We always wanted to come and live here," says Ms McCallum, now a councillor with Moira Shire.

The McCallums are not the only ones on the move in regional Victoria. Moira Shire, which includes Yarrawonga, is the ninth fastestgrowing municipality in Victoria, after booming Melbourne growth corridors such as Melton, Casey and Wyndham.

Developers have quickly caught on to Yarrawonga's potential for growth. The town is on the brink of a residential boom, with more than 2000 residential lots set to come on stream over the next decade.

Further along the Murray River at Wodonga, it's a similar story. The town is surrounded by six major development fronts, including a $500 million residential subdivision on former defence land.

Major residential subdivisions across regional Victoria are changing the face of country towns. But what is driving the development boom, and where will all the buyers come from?

Some analysts say the level of investment pouring into regional areas has been underpinned by State Government policy.

A State Government report released in November 2005, "Moving Forward: Making provincial Victoria the best place to live, work and invest", mapped out $300 million of major projects in regional Victoria to drive economic growth and development.

The report said regional Victoria's population was growing by 1.2 per cent.

In 2004-2005, regional building approvals reached an all-time high of $3.88 billion.

But you don't need statistics to point to building activity in Yarrawonga. It's there for all to see.

One of the largest developments under way is Silverwoods, a massive $500-million golf course estate on Lake Mulwala. The site is just outside the town centre on 400 hectares of former dairy land, previously owned and farmed by the same family since 1923.

When completed, it will have about 950 residential lots based around an 18-hole golf course designed by Thomson Perrett. The development will also have a resort on the lake, with a 100-room hotel, restaurants, health spa, pool, clubhouse and waterfront boardwalk.

According to the developer, Jayral Developments, about 100 lots have sold, mainly to people from the surrounding area. The lots on the lake are sold out, despite price tags of about $720,000.

Development manager David Sinclair of Developing Property Solutions said that with the existing golf course in Yarrawonga booked out a year in advance, the developers believed there was strong demand for another course. Another attraction was the lake. Lake Mulwala is used for irrigation so has a constant water level. Water rights were already in place, so the new golf course would be wellwatered.

Jayral Developments director Ralph Robinson admits the development at first drew scepticism from the local community, but it was now generally supported. It is not the only residential development flagged in Yarrawonga. A 350-lot resort at nearby Bundalong is also in the planning stages.

Ms McCallum says some of the area's older residents are concerned about the level of development, while some farmers believe the land should have been used for agriculture. But other farmers sold their land and "made a killing".

"You can't blame people for selling," she says."

But intense development brings challenges. Moira Shire mayor Frank Malcolm says a range of government departments needs to provide more education, health and transport services and improve facilities.

"The growth also places pressure directly on council's building and planning services, which have larger volumes of applications to deal with," he says.

The council received 489 planning applications in 2006, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year.

The development boom is not confined to residential. Investment is also pouring in from the commercial sector. Yarrawonga Aerodrome is expanding and an application for a 62-lot industrial subdivision has been approved. The franchises are also moving in: The council has just approved the town's first McDonald's.

Over in Wodonga, the council's chief executive Peter Marshall is not worried about opposition.

Development is happening on a grand scale, and he's excited about it. "Because our community has had 30 years of growth, it's actually quite accepting of growth. In fact, it kind of expects it," he says.

Mr Marshall says the lifestyle was a major driver for people moving to the area. "The lifestyle attributes of this region are fantastic. You've got the water, the river, the mountains, the snow and the wineries," he says.

One of the largest residential subdivisions under sway is White Box Rise, a $500-million subdivision on former defence land with a total of 1127 housing lots. The completed development will include a new school, South Wodonga Primary School, which opens in 2009. A retirement village, shopping centre and aged-care centre will also be built.

According to the developer, Abacus Wodonga Land Fund, about 17 lots of 178 recently released in the first stage have sold and 32 have been reserved by builders. There are several other residential subdivisions, but the whole town is set to be transformed by $400 million of commercial, retail and industrial development. The town centre will undergo a $60-million facelift with laneways, townhouses, shops, a cinema and bowling alley. Industry is also booming, which is bringing more people. A 620-hectare national distribution hub, LOGIC, is being built about 14 kilometres from the town. Woolworths has opened a major distribution centre there.

Mr Marshall says the development has been driven by Wodonga's population growth. He says the region has averaged 2.2 per cent growth over the past 10 years, although this slowed in 2004 when land prices increased.

"Now our growth is starting to come back, but affordability was a challenge for a while," he admits.

Mr Marshall says people are not moving just for jobs. He observes that young couples, who may have grown up locally but moved to Melbourne, are now moving back to the area to raise their families.

Closer to Melbourne, Torquay is no stranger to development. The once sleepy coastal town is full of bulldozers and earthmovers.

A recent Surf Coast Council planning document forecast Torquay's population would increase from 12,486 people in 2006 to 21,409 in 2021.

Statistics on the council's website estimate that about 1500 new residential lots will be created across 15 developments by 2021.

Large developments under way include the Resort, a mix of apartments, hotel suites and villas on the former Zeally Bay Caravan Park site. Developer FKP recently completed Ocean Acres, a residential subdivision in Torquay.

FKP Victoria manager Jason Smith says most buyers of the 132-lot development are from the local area, not Melbourne, as expected.

In Yarrawonga, Cr McCallum says that newcomers to the area such as herself were people who wanted to get away from the city. "They found Torquay, Lorne and all those places were too costly to buy into," she says.

Yarrawonga was still by water, not too far from Melbourne, and was reasonably priced. But she admits the level of development will bring social and cultural changes.

"As more and more people come in, we will lose that small-town feeling," she says.

"However, the locals that have lived here all their lives are very welcoming of newcomers."

Lured by the promise of space

"I MIGHT go through two sets of traffic lights a week," Steve Blake jokes. Mr Blake has lived in Anglesea, on Victoria's surf coast, for the past 10 years with the beach just a stroll away, and says he couldn't move back to Melbourne.

Instead, Mr Blake, his wife and two teenage children are moving closer to Geelong. The family will take up residence in a new estate, Ocean Acres, at Torquay.

"It's the first time we will be estate dwellers," he says.

Mr Blake says the family was attracted to Ocean Acres because of the size of the blocks, which average about an acre.

The family tried looking around Anglesea but found opportunities to buy large blocks of land were scarce.

The move will mean his daughter will be closer to the school she attends in Geelong. His 19-year-old son was also keen to be more conveniently located to the bigger city.

Mr Blake, a builder, was attracted by the opportunity to build a new home, with a renowned architect. The new family home is designed by Third Ecology, a Geelong-based firm with a focus on sustainable design. It will have a solar hot water system and will sit at a constant temperature of 16 to 18 degrees.

As for the amount of development around Torquay, Mr Blake says it's inevitable. "There's got to be guidelines ... we've got to have a fairly thoughtful approach to it," he says. "It is putting a bit of pressure on local infrastructure and services, but a lot of it needs to be upgraded anyway."