KF

Swansea is enjoying its position as a destination on the popular East Coast.

Tasmania’s East Coast is certainly enjoying a surge in business and real estate activity.

The 2016-17 financial year proved to be very positive with increased sales reported along the central East Coast. Sale prices, according to the Land Information System Tasmania, ranged from $45,000 to $1,800,000 with the mean for the Glamorgan Spring Bay Municipality being around $300,000.

It was also encouraging to see from the Australian Bureau of Statistics release of statistics from the 2016 census, that all the Central East Coast communities had experienced an increase in population growth.

Another indication that our economy is improving is that our school enrollments are either improving or steady, indicating that families are confident in either moving to or staying in their choice of towns.

Employment opportunities are also on the rise with a number of new enterprises starting operations and existing businesses expanding due to demand.

Local tradespeople have also reported that in line with real estate sales on the climb, building in the area has escalated, creating new job openings to handle the workload.

East Coast Tourism Board has advised that there has been a 13 per cent increase in interstate and international visitors to the east coast in the past 12 months.

Of those visitors 21 per cent were from Victoria, 22 per cent from NSW, 17 per cent from Queensland and the remaining 30 per cent were international visitors.

The promotion of the Great Eastern Drive, national award-winning tourism ventures, the expanding viticulture sector, plus lots of happy visitors talking about the scenery and experiences they have enjoyed, have all helped with the continuing boost in visitor numbers.

To help East Coast communities to manage this growth and further enhance local opportunities, the East Coast Tourism Board have been meeting with individual townspeople and businesses to develop a ‘Destination Action Plan’ for each of the major townships.

This will hopefully provide a strategy to help these coastal towns to move forward, not only improving services and prospects, but also enhancing the many wonderful assets that visitors already enjoy.

Although we are currently experiencing very dry conditions in the area, farming and viticulture pursuits have been enhanced with the completion of the Swan Valley Irrigation scheme this year, which will provide 2,000 megalitres of water storage.

All water rights were eagerly purchased by the rural community and water is now available from Cranbrook through to Swansea allowing farmers to diversify their holdings with cropping and stock.

We, the lucky ones who get to work and live in one of the most scenic parts of Australia, are excited about the increasing strength we are seeing in our area.

There are lots of new opportunities for our youth to be able to gain employment and live locally as well as welcoming new residents that also want to enjoy our peaceful coastal environment.

Knight Frank wishes you all a happy and safe Christmas!

By Knight Frank Tasmania’s East Coast team