Live in, drive out: council debates skills drain flowing out of the city

West Ward Liberal councillor Jason Pauling said he was "slapped in the face" by fresh statistics that show more residents are leaving Lake Macquarie for work than being employed in the LGA.

The council's draft Employment Land Use Strategy, debated at Monday's council meeting, shows 49,466 residents travel outside Lake Macquarie for work, while 48,464 live and work in the city.

Another 24,769 people travel from outside the LGA to work in Lake Macquarie.

The biggest employer is healthcare and social assistance (19.8 per cent), followed by construction (11.5 per cent) and retail (9.7 per cent).

"We need to be smarter," Cr Pauling said. "We need to reset this paradigm because where is future employment?

"Our children, our grandchildren, their grandchildren - what are they going to do for a living? Running away, driving 47 kilometres every day to get out of the city, doesn't seem like a smart play to me.

"We've always cherished ourselves and promoted ourselves as bold, creative, and innovative. We need to do better, because on this one, I just can't see how we haven't tragically dropped the ball."

The draft Employment Land Use Strategy shows Lake Macquarie had an annual economic output of $32.78 billion and a gross regional output of $17.35 billion.

Construction creates 18.9 per cent of economic output, valued at $6.5 billion, followed by mining ($5.3 billion) and manufacturing ($4.4 billion).

Liberal North Ward councillor Jack Antcliff successfully sought an amendment to have the draft Employment Land Use Strategy's public exhibition period extended from 28 to 42 days and to seek feedback from peak industry bodies and major regional advocacy groups.

"My question is, should we prioritise land for housing before we push for employment land?" Cr Antcliff said.

"I don't know the answer to that, but it's a conversation that I suppose this document has brought along for me.

"Historically, our vision has been a city where people live, work, and play, but when it comes to a future, maybe they just live and play here. Maybe they work elsewhere."

Labor North Ward councillor Keara Conroy said there was "a tension" between housing and employment land, but the council must keep supporting a strategy to provide opportunities for people to work locally.

"We have known for many years that many people leave this city for work," Cr Conroy said. "They go to neighbouring LGAs, people go to Sydney; people fly in and fly out.

"We want to give them more options to work locally, and I haven't given up on work, live, and play yet.

"I'm not looking for a dormitory city. I want people to be able to do it all here, unless they choose an employment opportunity outside our city that they can't turn down because it's fulfilling, well-paying, and good for them, their family, and their quality of life."

The council's forecasts show that Lake Macquarie will need between 43 and 194 hectares of additional employment land by 2046, when the population is expected to have grown from 227,400 to 270,700.

It's expected an additional 15,000 new jobs will be created over the next 20 years.

Forecasts also show that the supply of new, development-ready employment land will fall short of demand by about 54 hectares.

Labor North Ward councillor Brian Adamthwaite said the Employment Land Use Strategy was part of the greater Hunter's transformation and should not be considered in isolation.

"There's nothing wrong with the fact that people love to live here, but it is nice if we also have a dynamic environment and an economy where people can work as well," Cr Adamthwaite said.

"But we also recognise that we're not an island in itself; we're not isolated. We are part of a region. We cooperate, we complement one another, and we need to look at this as a holistic approach and look at the opportunities and look at the possibilities."

Lake Macquarie City Council office staff have also been based in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend since February 2025 following the November 2024 administrative building fire.

At the time, then council CEO Morven Cameron said there was insufficient office space available in Lake Macquarie to accommodate the 450 staff.

The manufacturing and coal mining sectors have contracted from 37 per cent of Lake Macquarie's economic output in 2011 to 29 per cent in 2026.

That figure is expected to decrease further due to the pending closure of the Eraring Power Station in 2029. The coal-fired power station supports 1800 jobs and contributes 15 per cent or $4.5 billion of Lake Macquarie's economic output.

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