Wide Bay beachside communities experience unprecedented growth
Thousands of beachside blocks are hitting the market in regional Queensland as sleepy coastal towns grapple with population growth and changing identities.
The Wide Bay region, about 400 kilometres north of Brisbane, is home to sleepy beachside suburbs thrust into a major transformation from rural farmland to residential subdivisions.
Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn said about 5,000 housing lots were under construction on the 15-kilometre coastal stretch between Elliott Heads and Bargara.
"That's significant … that will change the face of our region," she said.
The communities are in high demand from southerners and retirees, with approvals for more than 2,000 additional retirement and over 50s dwellings.
"People have found out the secret of our Bundaberg coastline, our beautiful waterways, and our clean, fresh environment," Cr Blackburn said.
"There's no doubt that it will grow and grow substantially in the next few years."
Not everyone is retired.
Shantara Manulat, who recently moved from the Gold Coast, operates a coffee van near Innes Park.
"Everyone's so welcoming, I've made so many friends being here and yeah, I'm just loving it, I wouldn't go back," the 27-year-old said.
She said it was an easier place to run a business because there was less competition.
She said it was also a more affordable location to live.
The median house price in the Wide Bay region, which incorporates Bundaberg, has risen to $611,000, according to the latest Proptrack report.
At the southern fringe of the region, the Fraser Coast is also experiencing similar growth with $3 billion in commercial projects approved by the council in 2024.
A master-planned community with more than 1,600 home sites is expected to be built at Dundowran Beach in the next decade.
Some of the more controversial approvals, including an 18-storey high-rise development on the Esplanade at Hervey Bay, have sparked debate over the urbanisation of the area.
"I'm not against development but it needs to be in the right places," resident Ross Horne said.
While many locals supported the growth, there were concerns that roads and infrastructure would not cope with the increase in traffic.
Near Bundaberg, Bargara café owner Joey Caruana said he wanted to see the state government invest in schools and sporting infrastructure.
"The growth of soccer clubs, athletics, nippers … there's a need for a sporting base," he said.
"A multi-purpose facility where we can have footy, hockey, netball, all the things that young families want."
Earlier this year the state government announced a $2 billion Regional Activation Fund, with half of the money to be spent on upgrading roads, drainage and other infrastructure in rural areas.
The first round of funding is to be issued to councils from July.
"We're aware that we need to try to make sure that our roads are maintained so that we can keep up with the traffic … and we need to make sure that we have enough hospital staff, policing staff," Cr Blackburn said.
She said finding qualified tradespeople was another issue.
"I would say at this point in time we're probably a bit stretched in terms of the labour market," she said.
Despite the challenges, Cr Blackburn said the coastal expansion was necessary to help attract families and professionals to move from south-east Queensland.
"Every place needs to grow, and we need new ideas and new people so that we can have those eateries and those shops that we desperately would like to have in our region," she said.
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