- Kings Forest is a master-planned community just 5 minutes south of Kingscliff, with thousands of new homes being built on the Tweed Coast.
- Building your pool during your new home construction is almost always cheaper and easier than retrofitting one later.
- Tweed Shire Council requires a Development Application (DA) for pool construction, but this can often be bundled with your home DA.
- Concrete pools with pebblecrete or tiled finishes are the best choice for the Tweed Coast climate, lasting 20+ years.
- Livin Construction Co are local pool builders who know the Kings Forest estate, the soil conditions, and the council requirements inside out.
Kings Forest is one of the most talked-about new communities on the NSW North Coast. And for good reason.
Thousands of families are building their dream homes here right now. Blocks are selling. Slabs are going down. The community is taking shape fast.
But here’s what a lot of new Kings Forest homeowners are discovering too late: building your pool after your house is finished costs significantly more and causes a whole lot of unnecessary headache.
This guide is for Kings Forest families who are thinking about adding a pool, either during their new build or in the near future. We’ll cover everything, from the site-specific challenges of the estate, to Tweed Shire Council approvals, to choosing the right finish for this coastal climate.
Let’s get into it.
What Is Kings Forest and Why Is Everyone Moving There?
Kings Forest sits on Tweed Coast Road, just south of Kingscliff, in the heart of the NSW Northern Rivers.
It’s a master-planned community currently being developed by Stockland, who acquired the 869-hectare site in 2025. At full build-out, Kings Forest will house more than 11,000 people, making it one of the largest new residential communities on the NSW North Coast.
What makes it special?
- 5 minutes to the Kingscliff village and beach
- 2km from Casuarina Beach
- 15 minutes to Coolangatta and the Gold Coast Airport
- Next door to the brand new Tweed Valley Hospital
- 180 hectares of environmental green corridors running through the estate
- A strict design code that maintains quality across every home
The nearby estates of Salt and Casuarina are essentially full. Completed homes there sell for $3-5 million. Kings Forest is the next wave of the Tweed Coast dream.
Families moving here are buying into a lifestyle. Ocean breezes. Coastal living. That warm Northern Rivers feeling you just can’t get anywhere else.
And for most of them, a pool isn’t a luxury. It’s the plan.
Why Building Your Pool During Your New Home Build Just Makes Sense
This is the single most important thing we can tell you.
If you’re building a new home in Kings Forest and you’ve got even a passing thought about wanting a pool, have the conversation with your pool builder now. Not after handover. Now.
Here’s why.
Access is Everything
Before your fences go up, your landscaping goes in, and your driveway gets poured, your backyard is an open worksite. Excavators can drive straight in. Concrete trucks have room to manoeuvre. Dirt gets removed efficiently.
Once your home is finished? Getting that same machinery through a standard side gate is a completely different exercise. It costs more, takes longer, and causes damage to your finished property that then needs to be repaired.
The access savings alone during a new build can run into the thousands.
One DA Instead of Two
Every new pool in the Tweed Shire requires a Development Application. When you build your pool alongside your home, you can often include it in the same DA submission.
One application. One fee. One round of council back-and-forth.
Build the pool later, and you’re back at the start of that process. More time. More cost. More waiting.
Design Integration
When the pool is planned from day one, your builder, your architect, and your pool builder can all work together. The alfresco flows to the deck. The deck flows to the water. The landscaping ties it all together.
This is a fundamentally different result to a pool that gets dropped into a finished yard as an afterthought. Anyone who’s seen both knows the difference immediately.
Finance It Together
When you build your pool at the same time as your home, many lenders will allow you to roll the cost into your construction loan. That means your pool gets funded at home loan rates, not personal loan rates.
Over 20+ years, that difference in interest rates adds up to a meaningful amount of money.
Site-Specific Things to Know About Building a Pool at Kings Forest
Kings Forest isn’t just any suburban estate. The site has characteristics that any good pool builder needs to understand before they put a spade in the ground.
Soil Conditions Vary Across the Estate
The Tweed Coast is well known for variable soil. Some parts of Kings Forest sit on sandy coastal soils that drain well and are straightforward to excavate. Others have reactive clay or soil with more complex drainage characteristics.
A pool builder who knows this site will factor it into the structural design. More reactive soil means reinforced pool shells and careful curing processes. Getting this wrong is expensive.
The Estate Design Code Matters
Kings Forest has a strict design code governing what gets built here. While the code primarily applies to the homes themselves, it also affects how outdoor spaces are planned and presented.
Working with a builder who knows the Tweed Shire Council’s requirements, and specifically the estate guidelines, means your DA process will be smoother and your approvals faster.
Lot Sizes and Setbacks
Kings Forest has a wide mix of lot sizes, from compact lots to larger residential blocks. Each lot has setback requirements that determine how close a pool can be built to property boundaries and structures.
This is where pool design experience really counts. On a tighter block, a pool that’s designed without those setbacks in mind can leave you scrambling at the approval stage.
Proximity to the Nature Reserve
Part of what makes Kings Forest beautiful is the 180 hectares of bushland running through it. That same bushland brings leaf litter, humidity, and in some parts of the estate, proximity to koala habitat.
For pool owners near these corridors, surface maintenance is a real consideration. Pebblecrete, with its natural texture, can collect debris from overhanging vegetation. Design and landscaping choices around your pool will affect how much work you’re doing each week to keep it clean.
What Kind of Pool is Right for a Kings Forest Home?
Livin Construction Co build exclusively in concrete. It’s the material that’s right for this climate, this soil, and this lifestyle.
Here’s why concrete is the right call for Kings Forest.
Concrete Works With Your Block, Not Against It
Unlike prefabricated alternatives, a concrete pool is custom-designed to fit your specific block, slope, and layout. Whether you’ve got a flat lot, a sloped backyard, or awkward setbacks, a concrete pool can be engineered to suit.
Kings Forest has plenty of varied terrain across its stages. Concrete is the right answer for virtually every scenario.
Pebblecrete Holds Up in Coastal Conditions
The Tweed Coast is gorgeous. It’s also relentless on building materials. Salt air, high UV, heavy rainfall, summer storms, and humidity year-round.
Pebblecrete is the workhorse finish for this environment. It’s slip-resistant, durable, and can last 20+ years with proper care. It handles the coast in a way that lesser materials simply can’t.
For Kings Forest homes with a coastal or natural aesthetic, pebblecrete fits beautifully. It comes in a wide range of colour options and gives pools that warm, organic look that suits the surrounding environment.
Tiled Finishes for High-End Builds
For Kings Forest homeowners building in the higher price brackets, a fully tiled pool is the premium option.
Modern pool tiles are tough, beautiful, and easy to maintain. They create that luxury resort finish that photographs incredibly well and genuinely elevates the look of a high-spec home.
If you’re building a statement home in Kings Forest, the pool should make a statement too. A tiled pool does exactly that.
What About an Infinity Edge?
Infinity pools, or negative edge pools, are particularly popular with Kings Forest homeowners on elevated lots or those wanting to create a premium visual feature.
The effect, where the pool appears to merge with the surrounding landscape, is stunning. It works best with views and space.
If your lot and design suit it, an infinity edge pool in Kings Forest can be a genuine showstopper. Livin Construction Co have built them across the Tweed Coast and know exactly how to engineer them to perform in this climate.
Tweed Shire Council Approvals: What You Need to Know
Pool construction in the Tweed Shire requires council approval. Don’t let that put you off. It’s a straightforward process when you’re working with a builder who’s done it hundreds of times.
Development Application (DA)
Most residential pool builds in NSW require a DA or a Complying Development Certificate (CDC). Your pool builder will advise you on which pathway suits your specific situation and lot.
At Kings Forest, bundling your pool into your home’s original DA is almost always the most efficient approach. Your pool builder needs to be involved early enough to provide the required plans and specifications.
Pool Safety Fencing
NSW law requires compliant pool fencing. This is non-negotiable and applies to all new pools regardless of where they’re built.
At Kings Forest, fencing design needs to also work within the estate’s broader design code. Livin Construction Co handle this as part of the build scope, ensuring your fencing is both compliant and visually consistent with your home.
Fencing must be:
- At least 1.2m high
- Non-climbable design
- Self-closing and self-latching gates
Pool Registration
All pools in NSW must be registered on the NSW Swimming Pool Register. Your pool builder should handle this as part of the handover process. If they don’t, it’s worth noting.
Maintaining a Pool in Kings Forest: What the Tweed Coast Demands
Kings Forest is beautiful. But the local environment will test your pool if you’re not across the maintenance side.
Here’s what to expect.
Salt Air and Coastal Humidity
You’re 2km from Casuarina Beach. Salt air is part of life here. It corrodes metal fittings, attacks equipment, and tests pool surfaces over time.
Rinse your equipment regularly with fresh water. Check metal fixtures for corrosion every few months. A well-designed pool with quality fittings will handle the coast far better than a budget build.
The Bushland Brings Leaf Litter
Living near the green corridors of Kings Forest is a privilege. It also means leaves.
Skim regularly, especially after summer storms. A pool cover overnight will help enormously. If you’ve got trees overhanging your yard, talk to your landscaper about mesh barriers.
Summer Storms Can Hit Chemistry Hard
The Northern Rivers gets serious summer rain. After any significant downpour, test your pool chemistry immediately. Heavy rainfall dilutes chemicals and throws pH off balance quickly.
Getting on top of this within 24 hours of a storm is the difference between a pool that swims clean all week and one that turns green. Stay ahead of it and it’s simple.
Mineral Filtration is Worth Considering
Livin Construction Co incorporate mineral filtration in every pool they build. In a coastal environment like Kings Forest, this makes a genuine difference.
Mineral pools use significantly fewer chemicals than traditional chlorine systems. The water feels softer on skin and eyes. It’s better for the environment too, which matters here.
What Does a New Pool Cost at Kings Forest?
The honest answer is that it depends on a few things. But here’s a realistic picture.
New Build Pricing (indicative only):
- Standard concrete pool with pebblecrete finish: from around $60,000 – $80,000
- Premium tiled pool with coping and upgraded equipment: from around $80,000 – $120,000+
- Infinity edge or feature pool with premium finishes: priced on design
These are broad estimates. The exact price depends on your lot, your design, the scope of finishes and features, and timing.
What we’d say is this: a quality concrete pool built properly, with the right finishes and equipment for this climate, is an investment that pays itself back in lifestyle and property value over many years.
The pools that look tired after five years are almost always the ones where shortcuts were taken on the build. Quality upfront saves money, frustration, and renovation costs down the track.
Why Kings Forest Families Choose Livin Construction Co
Livin Construction Co are not a big corporate pool company with a high-volume, pass-you-to-a-project-manager approach.
They’re a family-run business, built by Billy and Kylie Stanley, who have been designing and building concrete pools across the Northern Rivers and Gold Coast for over 20 years.
Every project is personally overseen. You deal with the people who own the business from your first call through to the day the pool is handed over.
They know the Tweed Coast. They know the soil at Kings Forest. They know the Tweed Shire Council approval process. And they build pools that are still going strong decades later.
They limit the number of projects they take on at any one time. That’s a deliberate choice. It means your build doesn’t get lost in a queue of 50 other jobs.
If you’re building at Kings Forest and you’re serious about your pool, have a conversation with them early. Construction season fills fast in this part of the world.
Related Reading: Already have an older pool on the Tweed Coast that needs attention? Read our complete guide to Pool Renovation in the Northern Rivers to understand your resurfacing options, what it costs, and what to expect.
Frequently Asked Questions Pool Building at Kings Forest
Yes. All new inground pools in the Tweed Shire require either a Development Application or Complying Development Certificate. Your pool builder handles this. The simplest approach is to include your pool in your home DA from the beginning.
For a new build, the pool construction phase typically runs alongside your house build timeline. In standalone projects, most concrete pools take 6-10 weeks from excavation to handover, depending on design complexity and weather.
The great majority of lots will accommodate a pool. Lot size, setbacks, and site conditions will affect the design. The best way to know what’s possible on your specific block is to get a site assessment from your pool builder early.
Mineral filtration uses a blend of minerals rather than traditional chlorine to sanitise the pool. It uses fewer chemicals overall, produces softer water, and is gentler on pool surfaces and equipment. In a coastal environment like Kings Forest, where salt air and sun are constant, it’s a smart long-term choice.
Autumn and Spring are ideal, with milder temperatures and lower rainfall. Summer can work but afternoon storms can affect timelines. Winter is also perfectly fine in the Northern Rivers. The key is booking early, construction spots fill quickly on the Tweed Coast.
Kings Forest has a design code governing building form, materials and aesthetics. While this primarily applies to home construction, it’s worth discussing with your pool builder when planning your outdoor space to ensure everything is cohesive and compliant from day one.
Ready to Start Planning Your Kings Forest Pool?
You’ve moved to one of the best postcodes on the NSW North Coast. The lifestyle is there. The climate is there. The community is growing fast around you.
Don’t leave the pool as an afterthought.
Contact Livin Construction Co today for a free, no-obligation site consultation. They’ll walk through your block, talk through your vision, and give you a clear picture of what’s possible.
Your Kings Forest backyard is waiting to become something special. Let’s make it happen.
Much Love,
Billy and Kylie
About Livin' Construction co
With more than two decades of expertise in construction, we take pride in our unmatched skills in crafting top-tier concrete swimming pools. Our team's exceptional dedication is evident in our over 20 years of experience in the art of designing and building remarkable home spaces.