A new energy: Meet the creatives reshaping industry in Port Kembla
Once a ghost town, the Wentworth Street strip has a new lease on life, but faces an uncertain future.
This edition of Future Proof is brought to you with the support of Colliers Wollongong.
There are two entrances to the old KingGee factory in Bellambi.
One, on Bellambi Road, is marked by the signage for Buckaroo Leatherworks, a manufacturer of high quality tool belts known for their craftsmanship and worn by tradies in Australia and around the globe.
The other, on Pioneer Drive, is a portal into more than a dozen creative businesses, from art studios to record labels and a micro-brewery.
Over the past few years, Buckaroo founder Tanya Van Der Water has been keeping both doors open, but with the time in Bellambi coming to an end, Ms Van Der Water was not going to let the unique combination come apart.
Buckaroo Founder Tanya Van Der Water at the Buckaroo Leatherworks in Bellambi. Picture supplied
And there was one suburb where that could continue.
“Port Kembla is the place we want to be recreating that in,” she told The Pulse.
“We have created this blueprint of success that would like to move to Port Kembla.”
Testament to the success of this model is that of the 18 tenants that have occupied the space, no one has left in the last five years. The combination of flexible spaces and a tight-knit community has provided inspiration and support for each of the tenants, one that could soon be replicated at the former RSL site in Port Kembla.
‘Get in, get dirty’
After years of speculation as to whether Port Kembla is on the up, the move by Ms Van Der Water leaves little doubt the emerging creative hub is the place to be.
After a decades-long downturn since the suburb’s heyday, the Wentworth Street strip is now marked by The Servo at one end, bringing local and national acts to town, with The Iron Yampi, from legendary Wollongong hospitality crew Good Times Only, at the other.
In between, the heritage shopfronts have recently been populated by new tenants, including tailor and creative director Daniel Narvaez who lives and works on Wentworth Street.
Based in Sydney and running a store in the up-market Strand Arcade on Pitt Street, Mr Narvaez heard it was time to head south.
“I was told by some close friends that there was a chance to start something fresh and something new,” he said.
It was a chance to get in, get dirty and start to bring some things to life.
Tanya Van Der Water at The Bank, a bank turned artists’ studio. Picture supplied.
It was a similar vibe that first piqued Ms Van Der Water’s interest, who transformed a former bank on Wentworth Street into artists’ residence and studio.
“The attraction to Port Kembla has always been there because it’s got that grit and energy that I believe is really attractive to creatives,” she said.
“I’m a big believer that if you want to make anywhere cool, let the artists do their thing, and Port Kembla presents an opportunity for that, like probably no other part of the Illawarra.”
The ingredients that have made Port Kembla a mecca for creatives from the Illawarra and beyond include affordable rent, a clique of like-minded businesses, basic services include cafes, restaurants and now a small supermarket and a gritty, industrial aesthetic. While these could be seen in other creative hubs in Sydney like Darlinghurst or Marrickville, Port Kembla has a trump card: the beach.
“Port Kembla, you’ve got all that, and you’ve got this picturesque environment,” Ms Van Der Water said.
It’s so, so unique.
Flexibility the key to town centre revival
But it’s not just the trend set taking notice.
In November last year, Wollongong City Council proposed to insert a new type of business that could operate in town centres throughout the LGA.
By adding the “creative industry” use into the planning rules, this would enable shop owners to allow artists and designers, who might combine manufacturing with retail and food and beverage options, to set up, without needing to go through a laborious planning process.
One person who embodies that hybrid approach is Cesar Cueva, whose practice as a jeweller crosses from studio, retail, exhibition and production. Moving to Port Kembla has allowed these activities to thrive.
“Over time the studio evolved into a hybrid of making, retail, exhibition and shared space - not as a branding exercise - but as a practical structure that allowed experimentation to remain viable while staying connected to the community,” he said.
“Port Kembla allowed those modes to exist together again in a sustainable way.”
Town planner at MMJ Real Estate Lauren Turner, who is involved with Ms Van Der Water’s move to the RSL site as well as other sites around Military Road, said the planning change would “make sure we have those types of jobs and industries throughout the city.”
The move aligns with the Port Kembla Town Centre Revitalisation Plan, and while the change will require state government approval, it opens up the adaptive re-use of sites like the former RSL, which has lain vacant for years.
“It’s been great that we’ve had a landowner come along and purchase a site that is able to apply a flexible approach to such a large building and give it a new lease of life, rather than it being demolished and another development proposed,” Ms Turner said.
As director of commercial leasing at Colliers Kady Leggett highlights, the change also removes a grey area for tenants and landlords about the types of businesses that can move in.
Ms Leggett said this built on efforts to encourage short-term leases as a way to activate otherwise vacant shopfronts, and enable small, creative businesses to establish themselves without requiring the upfront commitment to a long-term lease.
“That type of industry is looking for short-term, they want, maybe two months, maybe three months and your typical land owners kind of push back on that.”
Over the hill
As Wentworth Street comes to life with foot traffic not seen in years, the suburb is about to be impacted by one of the largest projects to ever come to the Illawarra, let alone Port Kembla.
The transformation of the BlueScope surplus lands on the other side of Five Islands Road will create a new wave of interest in the area. Simon Kersten, managing director of Colliers Wollongong, points out that a major issue will be finding the homes for the thousands of workers set to repopulate the old warehouses and new buildings to come.
“BlueScope has zero residential and zero capacity to house workers, both during construction or later, and you look at the TAFE that might go there, or whatever the uses are that go there, they’re going to need the ability for people to stay nearby, both the permanent workers, but also the people coming in and out.”
This could increase demand for property in Port Kembla and were prices to substantially and rapidly increase, this could shift out the creative businesses that have taken advantage of low rents, as Mr Cueva has experienced in the past.
“I have sustained a multifaceted practice for over twenty years and started my first studio and gallery in Surry Hills, when it was still affordable enough for artists independent retailers and galleries to experiment and in some cases thrive,” he said.
“As more successful retail and hospitality moved in, rents increased and opportunistic landlord behaviour followed. Experimental studios and independent operators were gradually pushed out and many relocated to the Inner West.”
Ms Van Der Water said it was still too early to say exactly how this could play out, but said a future TAFE could be a boon for the area.
“Having students and young people and those that are eager to learn in the mix of a creative community is obviously something that can have lots of mutually beneficial elements to it.”
How these forces are managed will determine whether Port Kembla’s newfound creative flair continues, or if it is replaced in the next cycle of the suburb. For Mr Cueva, an active approach is needed by local leaders to enable those who have created the now celebrated vibrancy of the suburb to stick around.
“That means longer and more secure leases, active use of vacant tenancies and planning frameworks that recognise production-based creative work as essential infrastructure rather than a placeholder. Stability allows experimentation to mature and gives operators the confidence to invest in place over time.”
In the mean-time, those that are there are enjoying the new-found community and excitement that comes with that. When asked what the suburb needs to keep going, Mr Narvaez said it was simple.
“Energy.”
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