A multi-million grout fund has been announced for Lake Macquarie, as the council looks to increase housing density in several of its population centres by filling disused mining voids beneath prime real estate.
The $2 million in federal government funding will feel like a kick in the guts to Newcastle developers, who had their own grout fund was scrapped by the NSW government, citing budgetary constraints.
The Lake Macquarie Mines Fund will be delivered in two stages, and underwrite developers for the unpredictable cost of filling and remediating historical underground coal mine voids, providing them with greater certainty when investing.
Prior to the 2022 federal election, an economic analysis by Dantia showed the Lake Macquarie grout fund would unlock 2500 new jobs and $450 million of investment in eligible development applications.
The initial funding will be used to determine how much mine remediation is needed across the Lake Macquarie local government area.
The second stage will see voids filled in growing hubs such as Charlestown, Cardiff, Morisset, Glendale, and West Wallsend, all of which are extensively undermined.
Funding for stage two will be determined by the outcome of the mapping, however it is expected to be a further $8 million.
Federal Shortland MP Pat Conroy promised the funding in the 2022 campaign as part of a wider $20-million economic development package for Lake Macquarie, which included establishing a permanent dredge for the Swansea Channel.
Mr Conroy said the grout grants would unlock Lake Macquarie's economic potential.
"The Lake Macquarie Mines Fund will give the private sector the certainty they need to invest in our community, including in new housing which we all know is desperately needed," Mr Conroy said.
The funding was originally pitched as an expansion of the state government's Newcastle Mines Grouting Fund program to cover Lake Macquarie.
However the fund was slashed in September 2023, despite costing the state just over $2 million in nine years.
Only a fraction of the $17 million allocated was used, however developers said the fund had allowed them to access bank finance.
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully recently defended the decision, which was "not under review at this stage".
Lake Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser said the funding "literally lays the groundwork" for the city's future development.
"Time and again, our studies and strategies have identified the need for higher density development in commercial centres to cater for the city's projected growth," Cr Fraser said.
"But some of that land sits on top of old mines. Funding for mine grouting will help unlock the development potential of these sites, creating jobs, providing new homes and attracting more investment in our city."
LMCC development planning director David Antcliff said that while some old coal mines tunnelled deep beneath the earth's surface, others were relatively shallow.
"Mines left behind may become unstable if large-scale developments are built on top of them," he said.
"That's where mine grouting becomes necessary."
Mr Antcliff said six recent local mine grouting projects each required an average of about 8750 cubic metres of cement to fill. The largest void alone sucked up 25,000 cubic metres of cement, enough to fill 10 Olympic swimming pools.
"The Mines Grouting Fund will contribute to these often prohibitive costs," Mr Antcliff said.
"That not only provides certainty for developers and investors, it ensures development in Lake Mac is undertaken safely and without the threat of future mine subsidence."
The Lake Macquarie remediation mapping will be completed by February 2025.
