We asked Melburnians what they love about their home suburb.
It’s just weeks from peak time in Anglesea. Clever locals are packing up their homes, making them holiday rental-ready and moving in with relatives and friends elsewhere for the season, or heading off to their own holiday destination.
Locals can make a packet, or at least cover the rates, over summer if they’re smart. They’re replaced with tourists craving surf beaches, lazy swimming at Point Roadnight, and the fish-and-chips-on-the-beach summer ideal.
This has been going on for many, many years. And if you didn’t know any better, you’d say that nothing has changed in sleepy Anglesea for decades. But it has. The seaside air is now a lot fresher. The fact that Anglesea was home to a brown coal mine and coal-fired power plant since the late 1960s was like the elephant in the room. A big elephant that many people didn’t even see.
Swimmers enjoying the cool water of Anglesea beach, on the Great Ocean Road. Photo: Simon O’Dwyer
According to Ian Lawless, owner and director of Great Ocean Properties, Anglesea, sometimes even would-be buyers had no idea. “I’ve had a couple of people pull out of a sale because they all of a sudden realised it was there, after it was all negotiated and the contracts were signed,” he says. “There are even people who have bought, then realised it was there!”
If you looked, you could spot it as you drove in along the Great Ocean Road – plumes of white something heading skyward through the heathlands. You could see the stack from Anglesea River, in town, too. It stuck up like an exclamation mark. Then, in mid-2015, unable to find a buyer, and amid protests, Alcoa closed it down, leaving Anglesea’s residents able to breathe freely for the first time in almost half a century.
But has its closure influenced sales in the town? According to Lawless, things have been up recently, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why.
The Anglesea power station and coal mine just after Alcoa announced it would close both. Photo: Justin McManus
“Anglesea’s done really well over the past two to three years, property-price wise,” he says. “People have recognised Anglesea as just one and half hours from Melbourne [the Geelong bypass helps], and also having the small town feel, and horseshoed by that National Park,” he says.
Unlike rapidly-growing Torquay, there’s not much development potential in Anglesea. Though November 19 did see the sale of land on the former Anglesea Primary School site on Camp Road (the school has moved up the road, closer to the old mine). Seventeen of the 22 blocks sold on the day, with prices ranging from $299,000 to $445,000, for land sized between 345-700 square meters.
Lawless says a lot of buyers are Melbourne folk planning ahead for the next 10-15 years. “They’re buying, and renting them out for five years or so,” he says. “Then they’ll renovate or knock them down and build.” There’s a lot less “emotional buying” after gazing in real estate agency windows during a lovely summer holiday, too.
Highly rated Captain Moonlite has an incredible view. Photo: Julian Kingma
“People are more likely to do their research,” Lawless says. Though not everyone. “About once a month, we will still have a person who walks in to the office and says: “Hey mate, we’ve got about $550,000 to spend and we just want a little shack that’s got ocean views and a walk to the beach…” and I’m like, well, those are all $2 million now, sorry.”
Five things you didn’t know about Anglesea
- You can arrive in Anglesea fully-loaded with chocolate thanks to the brand new Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery. An almost carbon copy of its Yarra Valley sister (if you’re onto a good thing…), it’s open 9am-5pm daily except Christmas Day.
- “Shushhh” says the handwritten sign at the bottom of the small Anglesea Motor Yacht Club at stunning Point Roadnight. “Keep it to yourself,” it says. (Sorry, we can’t). One of the most scenic places to have a drink in town is at the Rusty Anchor Bar, upstairs. Get in while you can — it’s going to change.
- Each September the Surf Coast Century, run by Torquay-based adventure group Rapid Ascent, starts and finishes in the town, challenging runners to complete a 100km run either by themselves or in teams.
- NBN arrived mid-year, making the town more attractive to those who spend a few days working in Melbourne and the rest of the week working from home.
- Captain Moonlight got rave reviews in Good Food last month – book your spot for your holiday now!