The $10million Lake Macquarie Mines Grouting Fund will create a level playing field that will allow the city to compete against Newcastle and the rest of the state.
Launching the first stage of the $10million fund on Friday, Shortland MP Pat Conroy said the fund would make locations such as Charlestown, Glendale and Cardiff far more attractive to potential investors.
" From about $2million the (now defunct) Newcastle Grouting fund stimulated about $3billion dollars in investment," he said.
"We want that in Lake Macquarie... This is about levelling the playing field not just against places like Newcastle but the rest of the country. Developers have choices, they can look at development in Charlestown, Gosford or Melbourne. This makes it a level playing field."
Six recent local mine grouting projects in Lake Macquarie 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.
As the Newcastle Herald reported on Friday, economic modeling conducted by Lake Macquaire council's economic development arm Dantia found the fund would open the door to an estimated $450million worth of economic development and create 2500 jobs.
"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," Mayor Kay 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."
Dantia chief executive Tim Browne said the federal funding provided a key pillar to continued investment and growth in the city's urban centres.
"This financial support will put Lake Macquarie on an even playing field with other areas not affected by historical mining operations, developing new and innovative industries and providing an environment that will increase investment and jobs," he said.
Lake Macquarie Council's Director Development Planning and Regulation 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."
Grouting involves pumping a cement-like material into the void. Some cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require thousands of cubic metres to fill, potentially making the development a commercially unviable undertaking without external assistance.
