TOMAREE Business Chamber has launched a new campaign urging Sydneysiders working remotely in the wake of COVID-19 to relocate to Port Stephens.
Chamber business development manager Peter Clough said while day trippers and holiday makers were always welcome, he hoped Sydneysiders who had discovered they could operate online from anywhere would "work and stay at the bay" permanently.
"Instead of working from home in Burwood or Strathfield or somewhere in Sydney, they can come up here and work from home in a special environment," Mr Clough said, adding that the region had the NBN, plus better housing affordability and work-life balance.
"We would like to have a younger, more productive residential population... and in the end generate a stronger economy here," he said.
"We have the feeling if we get home-based businesses up here they might decide to rent our premises because they're a lot cheaper than Sydney and it's a lot easier to get to your workplace."
Mr Clough said of the 30,000 people on the Tomaree Peninsula, the median age was 52, compared to 38 across the country.
"But at the same time we have two strong high schools up here in growth mode, so there's a very young population and an older population."
Mr Clough said TAFE's Connected Learning Centre, to be built in Salamander Bay, would be "hugely significant" and provide higher education options to students of Tomaree High and St Philip's Christian College to stop the region's "brain drain", as well as be a drawcard for relocating families, including adults who want to retrain.
Co-founders of Bondi Chai Latte - Martin Buggy and Melissa Edyvean - relocated from Launceston to Corlette in 2007, after searching the eastern seaboard for a new base north of Sydney to grow their business nationally and internationally.
They moved into their dream home on the top of a hill in Nelson Bay five months ago.
Mr Buggy described it as "paradise" and "inspiring".
"I don't believe you can live in any better place than Port Stephens, it really has got it all," he said. "It's a place that enriches you as a person, therefore you can be the better person you want to be."
