New Hunter entertainment venue aims to be region's major events hub

The developers of Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie will be planning to attract major international acts to the $235 million events hub when it opens in late 2024.

In an interview with the Newcastle Herald, Paul Lambess, Managing Director of Winarch Capital and Cedar Mill Group, has set out how the 30,000-capacity project is aiming to bring 10 to 15 concerts per year that would attract crowds of between 20,000 and 30,000.

The first of six live events venues Newcastle-based Winarch Group is building through its Cedar Mill Group subsidiary in NSW and Victoria - the others are in Pokolbin in the NSW Hunter Valley, Victoria's Yarra Valley, in Sydney's Domain, Parramatta and at Bradfield near the future Western Sydney Airport - the site Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie will also include cafes, restaurants, a splash-park and gardens, accommodation and an over-55s style residential park.

Being built on the 28-hectare site of the former Morisset Country Club, the new venue is promising be a game-changing piece of infrastructure for the Hunter and the Central Coast tourism economy when it opens late next year.

Commenting on activity at the new venue, Lambess stated “one weekend you might be seeing Metallica at Morisset and then you might see something like the Olive Tree Markets down there.

"The site can do that and we want to bring a diverse fabric into the day-time, night-time and tourist economy."

Outside of the major concerts, the venue also plans to host trade shows, Christmas carols, Anzac Day services and beer and cider festivals.

Lambess said Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie's versatility would ensure its success, noting “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.

"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."

Lambess advises that part of that versatility will be the ability to operate at a smaller capacity, with the new venue’s stage capable of being shifted back allowing a crowd of 3000 to be seated undercover beneath what he calls the venue's "sound shell".

Here he noted that “you could intimately have a venue for 3000 or 6000 or 8000 easily.

"You can have 3000 people under cover and create another really unique experience. We've built it with that in mind."

Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie is to launch into the increasingly competitive Hunter market for major concerts.

Hunter Valley's Hope Estate, Roche Estate and Bimbadgen have attracted major acts over the past 15 years, before the NSWGovernment-owned McDonald Jones Stadium joined the market, booking global superstars Elton John, Paul McCartney and Pink.

Lambess said Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie would hold a significant advantage over McDonald Jones Stadium and the winery venues, adding “there's exceptional promoter interest and that's because it’s purpose built, which is the opposite (of the other venues).

"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."

Cedar Mill's proposed 20,000-capacity Pokolbin venue is currently going through the NSW Government's Significant Development Application process.

Lambess is confident this project will be approved early next year.

The NSW Department of Planning has also approved the $580 million luxury hotel and apartment development, Trinity Point, at the nearby Morisset Park.

Image: The current concept for the stage area at Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie. Credit: Cedar Mill Group.