Town by town snapshot: Anglesea

The size of Anglesea for ABS data collection purposes is approximately 96.9 square kilometres.

The population of Anglesea in 2011 was 2,453 people and by the 2016 Census the population was 2,551 showing a population growth of 4 per cent in the area during that time.

Anglesea is a popular coastal town thats population swells to well over 10,000 through the summer holiday period which can cause some traffic headaches at pinch points on the Great Ocean Road.

Effectively land-locked from further development sprawl due to being encircled by the Otway National Park and Anglesea Heath, the town is experiencing some infill pressures which include elements of Alcoa held freehold land on the peripheral. Anglesea is protected from westerly weather by Point Roadknight, and the beach forms an arc in a north-easterly direction. It is crossed by the Anglesea River, originally called Swampy Creek because of its greater inland width back from the beach sands. In 1884 local land owners subdivided land for sale into 8 ha lots, about three years after a boarding house had been opened for holiday-makers.

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.

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) with the Anglesea Scout camp (1923) being the first prominent Scout camp in Australia.

An important aspect of Anglesea’s future tourism emerged with the formation of the Surf Club in 1952.

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 aluminum refinery at Point Henry, Geelong.

Anglesea has been menaced by numerous bush fires since early settlement, in 1966 fourteen houses were lost, in 1982 the camping ground was burnt and in 1983 the severe Ash Wednesday fires destroyed 142 homes.

CoreLogic data indicates that 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 in Anglesea 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.