Big plans for Coast on eve of State Election?

WITH AN ELECTION in the offing Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport, Rob Stokes decided that now is the time to make a statement about the future of the Central Coast through to 2041 and on Monday 16th January announced the:

• Central Coast Strategy for Economic Growth, and

• Draft Central Coast Regional Transport Plan – A 20 Year Vision.

Neither two relate to each other so it is obvious that neither department has been talking to each other and have been rushed out in a light-bulb moment.

Central Coast Strategy for Economic Growth

A 38 page document with an aerial photo of Gosford at least 20 years old was actually produced by the Greater Cities Commission.

In his Foreword Greater Cities Commission Chief Commissioner Geoff Roberts AM says “The Commission recommends action of seven priorities:

1. Driving innovation and industry collaboration,

2. Unlocking employment land and accelerating employment precincts,

3. Activating a university campus in a revitalised Gosford CBD,

4. Building on Gosford Health and Wellbeing Precinct,

5. Improving transport connections within the Central Coast and with Sydney and Newcastle,

6. Delivering a high-speed internet network, and

7. Improving planning processes to accelerate development approvals.:

The Commissioner’s final paragraph says “The Commission acknowledges the significant work undertaken by all levels of government, industry and community stakeholders, working together to deliver great outcomes for the Central Coast.”

For anyone trying to do business on the Central Coast from manufacturers to property developers and those relying on a prosperous economy to grow their businesses over the past 30 years would be justified in thinking that the Commissioner or any of his team have no idea what is going on in the Central Coast.

Draft Central Coast Regional Transport Plan – A 20 Year Vision.

Trotted out during the summer holidays this plan is inviting the public to read and understand a 36-page document written in bureaucratise all in six weeks, if you know about it in the first place.

This Transport Plan has been at least three years coming so is long overdue.

Furthermore it bears no relationship to the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041 announced by Minister Stokes in April 2022.

In any event the Key Goals for this vision include:

• Proportionately more people (than today) living in the Central Coast walk, cycle and use public transport,

• More travel choices supporting vibrant and accessible centres to live, work and visit,

• Improved multimodal connectivity between the Central Coast, the Hunter and Greater Sydney,

• Improved intra-regional connectivity to support the strategic centres and significant growth areas within the Central Coast, and

• Reduced crash rates.

To achieve all this Transport for NSW has identified 16 objectives and 80 supporting initiatives much of which is about political correctness and motherhood issues.

Significantly this Plan highlights the absolute lack of knowledge by the Department and the government at every level of the Central Coast topography and how the region has been settled around the numerous waterways and bushland that comprises some 70% of the region.

The only ‘Initiative’ of significance is that of improving bus services. It should be noted that the late Grant McBride, Member for The Entrance from 1992 to 2011 and Minister for the Central Coast highlighted the poor bus service across the whole of the region and how it was not serving the community.

Twenty years later and no government has made any attempt to solve the issue except talk about it.

Connectivity, which the Plan refers to often, will not be achieved without a rapid bus service linking to residential areas to rail as all as to all employment precincts in the region.

The Plan does refer to the Northern Growth Corridor (Warnervale to Tuggerah) and Southern Growth Corridor (Somersby to Erina) and their connection via the rail line.

This is what the late Mr McBride was talking about all those years ago along with a timetable system that linked all bus services to the rail service’s with a focus on local employment. At present the bus and rail services operate as if each were on a different planet.

Transport Oriented

Developments (TOD)

Finally, due to the region’s topography it would be logical and desirable for future residential planning to be integrated with transport planning around Transport Hubs.

Woy Woy, Gosford, Tuggerah and Wyong are ideally suitable for such TODs.

This does not get a mention, obviously because transport and planning people do not talk to each other – they never have!