🟡 Nothing over $20 at this new cafe
Including: Homeowners vs investors on the MNC and Coffs council's plan to dim harsh streetlights.
Ellie Chamberlain
January 14, 2026
⏱️ The 87th edition of our newsletter is a seven-minute read.
👋 Hello, it’s Ellie – reporter for The Mid North Coaster.
📧 If you ever want to get in touch with feedback, a story tip or just to say hi, simply reply to this email.
⬅️ Last week, I shared the story behind Milo’s invention on the Mid North Coast. On Friday, I posted the video version (and drank too much of the stuff in the making).
👀 It has been widely viewed and shared since then … maybe I should have done my hair and makeup? Anyway, in case you missed it…
👀 For today’s top stories, we’re looking at:
1. City of Coffs Harbour’s bright idea to dim harsh LED streetlights via remote control after an increase in complaints from residents, and;
2. How changes to the federal government’s first homeowners scheme has impacted competition and property prices on the MNC.
We’ve also got an interview with co-owner of new business, Bills on Macleay, a cafe in Gladstone where everything on the menu is under $20.
Let’s dive in…
💡Bright idea to dim Coffs Harbour’s harsh LED streetlights via remote control
Contractors are expected to start work on January 27. Image supplied Essential Energy.
In response to escalating complaints about excessively bright LED streetlights beaming into homes, remote control dimming technology will be installed in more than 1,200 lights on Coffs Harbour streets.
The upgrade - on key arterial and local roads - is due to start in late January and will cut carbon emissions and council’s energy bills, while benefitting wildlife in the area.
What happened: At the December 2025 meeting City of Coffs Harbour councillors committed $350,000 to the project.
The upgrades will see a communication device called a “node” installed on the streetlights, which will allow the lights to be remotely dimmed.
“The ability to dim or turn off lights in less-trafficked areas, as well as the directional nature of LEDs, minimises ‘light spill’ and ‘sky glow’, City of Coffs Harbour said.
Essential Energy’s Adele Finch told the Mid North Coaster the nodes talk to each other wirelessly and send information back to a central web-based system.
“When operators want to dim the lights, they send a command through this system. The node then tells the light to use less power, which makes it dimmer. The change usually happens within about a minute, as long as there’s mobile signal.”
What’s involved: While Essential Energy contractors clean streetlights in Coffs Harbour, they will install nodes on 1,218 of the high wattage lights.
An additional 22 LED streetlights in a Sandy Beach development will have new sensors compatible with the node technology installed, which will allow the lights to be dimmed.
When will it happen: Work is scheduled to start on January 27, however council is waiting on approval from Transport for NSW, the road authority of the Pacific Highway.
Cost savings: Based on current traffic data, City Infrastructure Director Andrew Beswick said “lights on the highway could be trimmed/dimmed by 55 percent on average, and by a further five percent after the bypass opens. This equates to between $63 to $90 in energy savings per light per year for 59 percent of the City’s large wattage lights.”
Despite the $350,000 outlay, council believes that over a 10-year period it will recoup between $300,000 and $700,000, depending on traffic volumes (and therefore light usage) after the scheduled bypass opening in late 2026.
What about drivers: Two traffic sensors will be placed at the Bray Street/Pacific Highway and West High Street/Pacific Highway intersections to capture traffic data that helps set safe, compliant lighting levels.
Finch said dimmed lights are designed to maintain safety and changes in light strength are rarely noticeable to drivers.
“The aim is to ensure lighting levels are appropriate for the road while reducing energy use,” Finch said.
LED in the home: LED lights are the most energy efficient option by far, according to the Australian Government’s guide to environmentally sustainable homes.
Australia has phased out many incandescent bulbs and is phasing out mains voltage halogen bulbs, to be replaced LED and CFL bulbs for energy efficiency.
Home energy advisor Seb Crangle told the Mid North Coaster that replacing halogen downlights with LED “makes a big difference to energy consumption”.
LED bulbs use around 80 percent less electricity to produce the same amount of light as a halogen bulb.
🏡 On the Mid North Coast, the 5% home deposit scheme “basically drove the price up overnight”
A federal government scheme that promises to make home ownership easier for first-time buyers is likely driving the price of entry level properties higher, according to Mid North Coast real estate agents.
Melissa Schothorst of Cardow + Partners in Woolgoolga – north of Coffs Harbour – says she noticed “a huge uptick” in enquiries and sales since the scheme came into play, however, only one property purchase since October has been by a first home buyer.
She says she has "definitely" seen a surge in the price of housing, “especially in the lower end of the market”.
“[The scheme] basically drove the price up overnight,” Schothorst told the Mid North Coaster. “The market is always going to increase, but I think the scheme is pushing it up too.”
What happened: On October 1, 2025, the federal government’s five-year-old Home Guarantee Scheme was replaced by the 5% Deposit Scheme.
Expanded eligibility criteria meant there would now be “no income caps, no waitlists and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI)”, the government said. It is also available to first home buyers or those who have not bought a property in 10 years.
LMI typically costs between one and five percent of a loan amount and is generally required when a deposit is less than 20 percent of the property's value.
It also supports single parents or guardians (who do not have to be first home buyers) with at least one dependent to buy a home with as little as a two percent deposit.
Property prices on the rise: By making homeownership easier to access for more people, the scheme is intensifying competition and in some cases pushing up prices of more affordable homes.
A new report from property data firm Cotality shows that in the last quarter of the year, cheaper homes that could be afforded through the scheme grew nationally at 3.6 percent in comparison to more expensive properties, which grew just 2.4 percent.
The local impact: In the Cundletown and Taree areas, LJ Hooker’s Justin Atkins has noticed a recent northward shift in houses priced between $500,000 and $600,000.
“[The scheme] is driving a lot of competition within that market,” Atkins told The Mid North Coaster. “It's essentially pushing those prices up.
“Around here in a regional area, it might [increase by] $10,000 or $20,000.”
Atkins estimates he’s seen a three to five percent increase in property prices at the entry level since the new scheme was introduced.
Helpful nonetheless: Regardless of the drive in competition, Atkins believes the 5% Deposit Scheme is still helping first-home buyers get into the market.
“I've had a lot of first-home buyers take up that scheme. It’s been very popular in the last couple of months, so people are using it and it is helping them to purchase their property,” Atkins said.
Increase in investors: Carlos Peters, licensee for Stone in Kempsey, says there hasn’t been an increase in first home buyers in the area since the expanded scheme was introduced.
Instead, he’s noticed an influx of investors, especially over November and December. However, this may be an unrelated trend as only owner-occupiers can access the 5% Deposit Scheme.
“There's investors hitting the market all over the place, and that's certainly putting pressure on prices because there's more interest in that lower end because investors are going, ‘Oh, I've got this bit of cash sitting here, I can go and do this’,” Peters said.
At the start of 2025, Peters said, about 10 percent of buyers in the Kempsey area were investors. In early 2026 he put that figure at about 45 percent.
📹 Bills on Macleay
When I heard one of my go-to cafes was moving from Gladstone’s Hub I was sad. When I heard nobody had put their hand up to takeover the lease, I was devastated. But relief soon came when a message chimed in the inbox from the new co-owner of Bills on Macleay letting me know doors were opening on January 2.
On Friday, I popped in to meet Laura, and find out what’s on offer.
Watch the video, including my food review of the salmon patty and dill mayo roll.
Thanks for reading; I’ll be back on Friday with another newsie.
In the meantime, you can follow our Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook and keep an eye on our website for stories.
👋 Ellie