MORISSET'S forthcoming $235 million events hub will be targeting international music acts of the calibre of metal heavyweights, Metallica.
Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie, situated on the former Morisset Golf Club site, is promising be a game-changing piece of infrastructure for the Hunter and the Central Coast tourism economy when it opens in late 2024.
The ambitious 30,000-capacity project will be the first of six live events venues Newcastle-based Winarch Group is building throughout Australia.
The others are in Pokolbin, Victoria's Yarra Valley, in Sydney's Domain, Parramatta and at Bradfield near the future Western Sydney Airport.
The 28-hectare Morisset site will also include cafes, restaurants, a splash-park and gardens, accommodation and an over-55s style residential park.
It follows news this week that the NSW Department of Planning has approved the $580 million luxury hotel and apartment development, Trinity Point, at the nearby Morisset Park.
"One weekend you might be seeing Metallica at Morisset and then you might see something like the Olive Tree Markets down there," Winarch's founder and managing director, Paul Lambess, said.
"The site can do that and we want to bring a diverse fabric into the day-time, night-time and tourist economy."
Given growing cost-of-living pressures caused by inflation and rises in interest rates, the live music industry has suffered a downturn in the past year.
Newcastle's biggest annual music festival, This That, was cancelled for the second straight year last month due to poor ticket sales, while promoters from Dashville and Off The Rails music festival have also reported sluggish sales.
Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie is aiming to bring 10 to 15 concerts per year that would attract crowds of between 20,000 and 30,000.
Outside of the major concerts, the venue also plans to host trade shows, Christmas carols, Anzac Day services and beer and cider festivals.
The Mountain Winery in California's Silicon Valley, which is hosting Kenny Loggins and The Cult concerts this month, has helped inspire Cedar Mill.
Mr Lambess said Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie's versatility would ensure it doesn't become a white elephant.
"You can't have big events on every week, because you don't want to put that much strain on the local infrastructure, but you need it consistent enough to make is economical," he said.
"We also have to make it so people keep wanting to come back to the region and the area and something new they can do with their family."
Part of that versatility will be the ability to operate at a smaller capacity. Mr Lambess said Cedar Mill's stage can be shifted back allowing a crowd of 3000 to be seated undercover beneath the venue's "sound shell".
"You could intimately have a venue for 3000 or 6000 or 8000 easily," he said.
"You can have 3000 people under cover and create another really unique experience. We've built it with that in mind."
The launch of Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie will spice up the increasingly competitive Hunter market for major concerts.
Hunter Valley's Hope Estate, Roche Estate and Bimbadgen have had a monopoly on attracting major acts over the past 15 years, before the State Government-owned McDonald Jones Stadium joined the market, booking global superstars Elton John, Paul McCartney and Pink.
Mr Lambess said Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie would hold a significant advantage over McDonald Jones Stadium and the winery venues.
"There's exceptional promoter interest and that's because it's purpose built, which is the opposite [of the other venues] for a change," he said.
"Rather than trying to fit a music act into a sporting stadium, we've actually made it purpose built from the back-of-house and stage."
Winarch commissioned industry website music.com.au to survey 1,012 people about their concert experiences.
The survey found 75 per cent of respondents feel there's not enough live music venues in regional Australia and 82 per cent said accessibility was important.
"People don't want to go into Sydney and metropolitan venues all the time," Mr Lambess said. "They want to go to something more regionally based."
Cedar Mill's proposed 20,000-capacity Pokolbin venue, located on the corner of Broke and McDonalds roads, is going through the NSW Government's Significant Development Application process.
Mr Lambess is confident the Cedar Mill Hunter Valley will be approved early next year.
