Tourism Plan sets stage for $70million regional boost

Council has adopted a five-year Tourism Opportunity Plan for the Central Coast which will maximise opportunities to attract visitors to the region.

The plan recognises the strengths of our region, identifies challenges and opportunities and seeks greater efforts to capitalise on them for the future, with a goal to boost the visitor economy for the region by $70million.

Mayor Lisa Matthews said the adoption of the Plan would allow Council, tourism operators and the community to work on improving visitors’ experiences of our region.

“This Plan encompasses the very small to the large. It embraces areas such as heritage, cultural and environmental offerings, revitalising our places and the aesthetics of the physical region,” Mayor Matthews said.

“It allows us to explore opportunities such as new live music experiences, better food and beverage service levels or extended retail hours at local businesses.

During the 60-day public exhibition period, Council received 51 public submissions.

“The survey and stakeholder consultation were done to understand the community’s perspective on specific tourism opportunities for the Central Coast,” Mayor Matthews said.

“Now the community has had its say and the plan has been adopted. The next step is to look at what we can do to enable tourism and drive employment opportunities.

“Key components of the strategy focus on the investment opportunities and a ‘1000 Little Things We Could Do’ concept. There are so many little things that need to be done all over the region, which can be accomplished fairly quickly and easily without a big project plan.

“These ‘little things’ can be undertaken by Council, residents or industry to make a big difference to the Central Coast experience, whether for living, working or visiting.”

Preserving our Coast for future generations

Council has progressed with work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the impacts of climate change in line with six environmental pledges made in March this year.

Mayor Lisa Matthews said as a member of the national Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership Program, Council is delivering on its promise to the community to take a hands-on role in the conservation, protection and remediation of our environment.

“We pledged to replace existing residential street lighting with energy efficient LED lighting and are working with the Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils to develop the most appropriate replacement model for our community,” Mayor Matthews said.

“We pledged to lead the way in sustainable transport and have introduced the first 100 per cent electric vehicle into our fleet of cars, a number of hybrid passenger vehicles, have commenced design on our first electric truck and expect our first hybrid 20-tonne excavator to be delivered next year.

“We pledged to install renewable energy, both solar PV and battery storage, and have scoped rooftop solar for Council buildings which will soon be implemented.

“We pledged to look at ways to generate energy from wastewater and have submitted a grant application to the Emerging Energy Fund for pre-investment feasibility studies.

“We pledged to capture or flare landfill gas for electricity generation and are doing so across four waste management facilities including Kincumber, Woy Woy, Buttonderry and the Green Point closed landfill site.

“And we pledged to investigate potential opportunities for the community to participate where we have had initial discussions with the Central Coast Community Energy Association.

“Council is on the front foot of tackling climate change. We cherish our natural environment and are helping preserve our beaches, waterways, wildlife corridors and inland areas for future generations.”

The Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership Program is Australia’s largest Local Government climate network, with over 100 councils representing almost 11 million Australians working together to find climate solutions.

Site chosen for Regional Library

Council has confirmed that the preferred site for the much-anticipated Regional Library will be the Parkside site in Donnison Street, Gosford.

At its 25 September meeting, Council decided to go ahead with a Gosford Regional Library but to review the business case for a proposed Regional Performing Arts Centre.

The decision to proceed with planning for the regional library was made to help secure any available funding and ensure delivery of this important public resource.

At last night’s meeting, Council determined not to refer the Cultural Precinct Project to an independent Audit and Risk Committee for investigation and analysis.

Mayor Lisa Matthews said Council is currently reviewing the business case for the Gosford Performing Arts and Conference Centre (RPACC), and a review at this stage is premature.

“Commercial interest, development and potential investment in Gosford CBD has occurred more rapidly than originally anticipated,” Mayor Matthews said.

“This is fantastic for the region, but also impacts some of the business case scenario planning for the concept of a single large cultural precinct for Gosford.

“The project’s key milestones have been undertaken in confidential sessions, while acquisition discussions have been under negotiation, which is why Council has been unable to comment thus far on the details of the project.

“The next step for the Gosford Performing Arts Centre is to review the business plan, meet with stakeholders and update the Councillors before the end of the year but I am pleased to say we will be progressing the much-anticipated Regional Library for Gosford.”

Driving ahead on parking in Gosford 

Work on developing more parking for the Gosford CBD is well underway.

Last night, Council reviewed progress on the Gosford Short Term Parking Strategy, which is part of the Central Coast Parking Strategy.

To date, work includes:

• Construction of a 180-space car park at 10 Racecourse Road, West Gosford has been completed.
• 170 spaces at Adcock Park have been line marked and are available for use until early 2020, when the park’s redevelopment commences. Approximately 700 public-use car spaces will be available in 2022 when the work is completed.
• A park and ride program is at the tendering stage.
• Council is currently liaising with the Federal Government regarding $35 million funding towards commuter car parking in Gosford and Woy Woy. No funding commitments for short-term car parking have been forthcoming.
• Council is investigating the development of two multi-level carparking stations within Gosford CBD, which will provide approximately 1300 parking spaces.

Mayor Lisa Matthews said Council’s Parking Strategy will help delivery essential infrastructure to the community.

“The short-term parking options in Gosford will create parking solutions to address the needs of our community,” Mayor Matthews said.

“Council is committed to meeting future demands for transport options and ensuring residents and visitors have access to reliable and safe transport connections.”

First Sustainable and Plastic Free Events Policy for the Coast

Council’s commitment to sustainability has been strengthened through the adoption of the Central Coast’s first Sustainable and Plastic Free Events Policy.

The policy will assist event organisers to operate in a sustainable manner and will reward stallholders who meet Council’s guidelines on single use plastics.

Mayor Lisa Matthews said the policy would help ensure the sustainable delivery of vibrant events across the Central Coast. 

“The diverse and growing selection of events across the Coast help make our region a better place to live and visit and provide a welcome boost to our local economy,” Mayor Matthews said.

“Our Sustainable and Plastic Free Events Policy outlines simply steps that can be taken to deliver great events for the Coast in a sustainable manner.

“The ‘Plastic Free’ event guidelines will work as a checklist to help stallholders deliver plastic free events.

“We will reward stallholders who meet the ‘Plastic Free’ guidelines with a 20 per cent reduction in stallholder fees.

“Council will take further leadership in this area by delivering waste education initiatives at five of our Council managed events.”

The Sustainable and Plastic Free Events Policy was developed following benchmarking and incorporated community feedback gathered to create the Interim Central Coast Sustainable Event Management Policy.

Council to acquire private land on Wadalba’s Jensen Road

Council has resolved to begin the process of acquiring private land at Jensen Road, Wadalba.

The proposed purchase of the land would consolidate Council-owned conservation land for the future stage 2 of the Wadalba Wildlife Corridor.

Mayor Lisa Matthews said the decision to acquire the land is based on its environmental value.

“The land contains vegetation (Estuarine Swamp Oak forest) that is listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016,” Mayor Matthews said.

“We take our responsibility towards protecting the environment seriously and the Wadalba Wildlife Corridor forms a key part of our overall strategy in creating a sustainable environment in the Northern part of the Central Coast.”

Council will continue negotiations with the current landholder.

North Shelly Beach accessway to be named

Council wants to name an accessway to the northern entrance of Shelly Beach to help emergency services easily locate the carpark at northern end of the beach.

The accessway is currently unnamed which can cause confusion for emergency services vehicles if incidents occur.

The naming of the accessway and naming options will be placed on public exhibition for community and stakeholder feedback.