MALCOLM and Helen Rasmussen are the faces of our population explosion.
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Lifestyle and family attracted Mr and Mrs Rasmussen, aged 69 and 66 respectively, to swap the nation’s capital for Port Macquarie last month.
And they are not alone.
Figures released yesterday project population in the Port Macquarie-Hastings will swell by 51 per cent to 107,600 people by 2036.
The Hastings just edged out Coffs Harbour as the fastest-growing area on the Mid-North Coast.
The figures show the Mid-North Coast’s population aged 65 and older is expected to rise from 19.1 per cent in 2006 to 34.2 per cent in 2036.
The Rasmussens cite several reasons behind their move.
“It was an informed decision,” Mrs Rasmussen said. “We always knew coming here would be easy, but we knew leaving our friends in Canberra would be hard, and it has been.”
They were impressed with the town’s medical expertise and facilities when Mr Rasmussen had cancer treatment here.
Mr Rasmussen, a retired academic, plans to join a golf group, and Mrs Rasmussen, a relief teacher, is interested in the University of the Third Age and joining a book club.
KPMG demographer Bernard Salt said the latest population forecast was consistent with what was expected in a seachange area on the eastern seaboard.
New infrastructure, from electricity to schools and medical services, would be needed to keep up with the population growth, he said.
“Port Macquarie has built a reputation for its idyllic seachange lifestyle,” Mr Salt said. “It needs this managed very closely to ensure that lifestyle is not compromised over the next 20 years, so the thing that made Port Macquarie so attractive is not spoiled by more people being attracted to Port.”
NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly said the population figures were projections based on analysis of existing demographic trends and informed assumptions about expected future changes.
The projections take into account findings from the 2006 Census and the latest data on fertility, mortality and migration.
The figures follow a report last year that predicted Port Macquarie was expected to increase in population by 35 per cent by 2027 – from 43,655 to 58,888.
