The council is using brightly coloured outdoor furniture and umbrellas, ping pong tables, totem tennis poles and giant turtle sculptures to bring some of the lake's public spaces to life.

It launched it’s “pop-up chill out zone” at Belmont Wharf on Friday and council Manager Cultural Services Jacqui Helmsley said the trial project would run for the remainder of the school holidays and is aimed to promote activity around the lake.

The project will start at Toronto foreshore this week before moving to Warners Bay foreshore next week then Belmont from February 23. 

"We hope this activity will inspire people to reimagine and reinvent public spaces, which are at the heart of our community," Ms Helmsley said.

Ms Helmsley said the trial was an “inexpensive way of activating a public space” while also encouraging community-based participation. 

“We’re empowering the community to relax,” she said. “It’s a trial, it’s something fun and we’ll see how people use it.”

Council will use information from the trial for future planning of public spaces.

“We want to encourage families of Lake Macquarie to get out and use the spaces,” she said. “It’s place activation and it’s also public art.”

Mayor of Lake Macquarie, Kay Fraser, was on hand to launch the initiative on Friday and said the council was passionate about inspiring residents to embrace a healthy lifestyle around the lake.

“It looks absolutely fabulous,” Councillor Fraser said. “It will encourage people driving past to pull over, get out and sit on the foreshore and re-engage with the outdoors and to spend some time away from their TVs and playstations.

“It’s aimed to get more people outdoors, that’s ultimately what we want.”