Town by Town Snapshot: Anglesea

The size of the Anglesea district is about 96.9 square kilometres with the population of Anglesea recorded at 2,453 in 2011, and by the 2016 Census, the population was 2,551 showing a population growth of four per cent in the area during that time.
Anglesea is a popular coastal hinterland town protected from the elements by Point Roadknight and the Otways.
The popular seaside town is slowly transitioning to a more permanent population base as more and more people call Anglesea home.
The town’s beginnings came about in 1884 when local land owners subdivided land for sale into eight hectare lots, about three years after a boarding house had been opened for holidaymakers.
Shortly afterwards, a post office (1883), Presbyterian church (1887) and hotel (1890) formed a village, but the population was mostly visitors.
The name was changed to Anglesea in about 1884, probably derived from the Isle of Anglesea in Wales.
Unlike Aireys Inlet, 10km south-westwards along the coast, Anglesea had acceptable road access from Geelong and Torquay. During the early 1900s it attracted several holiday homes, a general store and a new road (1915), an Anglesea regatta (1916) and the beginning of the Great Ocean Road (1919).
The Anglesea Scout camp (1923) was the first prominent Scout camp in Australia. A forest plantation was established at Anglesea in 1924, and three years later, the increased population, of whom several were forestry workers, required the opening of the primary school (108 pupils as of 2014).
Golf links, tennis courts, reticulated electricity, the Great Ocean Road and more shops and tea rooms were opened before World War II. An important aspect of Anglesea’s future tourism emerged with the formation of the surf club in 1952. The town usually has a peak holiday population of more than 10,000, of whom nearly 3,000 are caravanners, campers and young people in youth camps.
CoreLogic data indicates the predominant age group in Anglesea is 60-69 years with households in Anglesea being primarily childless couples and are likely to be repaying $1,800-$2,399 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people work in a professional occupation. In 2011, 73 per cent of the homes in Anglesea were owner-occupied compared with 75.3 per cent in 2016.
AGENT PERSPECTIVE:
“Buyer demand for houses and vacant lots in Anglesea are at very high levels as buyers actively compete to purchase their coastal dream.
“With only eight homes for sale across the entire township, stock availability is incredibly scarce and has been since November 2020.
“Properties that are priced correctly are being snapped up in 6-10 days by savvy buyers, quite often after the first open house, which is putting continued pressure on stock availabilities and I don’t see this trend ending any time soon.
“A great time to sell, for sure, as we are seeing general values increased by approximately 20 per cent on the same time last year.”
Ben Jackson – Branch Manager,
Great Ocean Road Real Estate Anglesea
TIDBIT:
In 1958, exploratory mining uncovered abundant brown coal, and six years later Alcoa of Australia Ltd began construction of a mine and power station to supply electricity to its aluminium refinery at Point Henry.