Gosford Central Community News
December 13, 2010
Your independent local newspaper
Gosford waterfront plans unveiled
end Lease has been selected as the preferred partner to work with Gosford City Council and the NSW State Government to redevelop Gosford waterfront.
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Known as the Landing, the planned waterfront makeover, with Lend Lease, may not be fully realized for a few years yet, but developing the site is a key component of the Gosford Challenge concept. The preferred proponent status gives Lend Lease and its infrastructure arm, Capella Capital, a period of exclusive negotiation with the Central Coast Redevelopment Corporation (CCRDC) until the end of March 2011. The Landing is seen as a key state project for the NSW Government’s Land and Property Management Authority (LPMA). It is a collaborative project to transform Gosford City by connecting it to its magnificent but underutilised waterfront. It is the largest and most important project currently
being undertaken by the LPMA in this part of the state. Whilst the project is yet to be defined (this will be the role of the LPMA in concert with its partner/s) in terms of outcomes and deliverables, readers can judge the scale of the opportunity by (a) the site size; 97.5 ha of land and seabed, (b) the anticipated value; in excess of $1billion and (c) the anticipated buildout timeframe; in the region of 20 years. Member for Gosford, Ms Marie Andrews, said the significant milestone reached puts Gosford one step closer to realising its status as the capital of the Central Coast. “The Landing is a key component in the revitalisation of Gosford, which is aimed at delivering growth and investment for the Central Coast and will ultimately translate into real
jobs,” Ms Andrews said. Lend Lease’s managing director, development – Australia, Mr David Rolls said he was excited about the opportunity ahead. “I’m looking forward to meeting with the local community and learning more about Gosford,” Mr Rolls said. Expressions of interest were sought and the outcome was made public at a launch inside Iguana Joes waterfront restaurant held on Thursday, December 9. A feature of the announcement was the inclusion of an outside broadcast by Sydney 2GB radio station “shock jocks” Alan Jones and Ray Hadley, as well as performances by Rod McCormack and Gina Jeffries. Charged with developing the region is the newly
expanded Central Coast Regional Development Corporation [CCRDC] based at Mount Penang and with its new board now in place, a single developer, Lend Lease, was chosen from five submissions. The CCRDC was recently expanded to take on the larger and more complex regional development projects. It is expected to
contribute substantially to the development of the region on behalf of the NSW State Government. The new board members include chairman, Mr John Taylor, Mr Ken Jolly, Mr Steve Brahams, Mr Peter Wilson, and Mr Michael Whittaker. Introducing the new board, NSW Minister for Lands, Mr Tony Kelly said of Mr Taylor, “he is a local person with more than 35 years’ experience serving both in the private and public sectors”. Ken Jolly was the guiding light of Scholastic Australia, and a local of many years. Both Wilson and Whittaker are the respective general managers of Gosford and Wyong councils. General Manager of the CCRDC, Brett Smith, has a wealth of knowledge and experience with development strategies. His background includes sixteen years’ experience in the public sector ranging from Natural Resource Management to Commercial Development. Brett Smith has been with the NSW Government Land and Property Management Authority (LPMA), Crown Lands Division in the positions of Program Manager, Regional Manager, Central Coast/Hunter and Director North. For the past two years, Mr Smith has also been the joint project director of the Gosford Challenge. The venture could be hampered by a change in NSW State Government in March 2011. Running for the NSW seat of Gosford in March will be Cr Chris Holstein on the Liberal ticket. Also challenging for the seat is Katie Smith, a local solicitor based in Woy Woy, recently preselected for the Labor Party replacing Ms Andrews. In the mix is Cr Peter Freewater of the Greens and as far as is known all candidates support
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developing the Gosford City waterfront. State Liberal candidate, Cr Holstein stated that he will always been keen on the revitalisation of Gosford as long as it is in keeping with the Gosford Challenge concept. Although, if the coalition gains power in March, part 3a planning may be returned to local councils from the state government, according to an ABC TV interview with planning minister, Frank Kelly in December. For the venture to be successful, bi-partisan support is vital. If the community is to eventually see its own mini Darling Harbour on the Gosford Waterfront, assuming that’s what the community wants, then all need to work toward that goal. Meanwhile, knowing the importance of complementary development to the future of Gosford, a recently formed separate group of landholders is working to ensure that developers get some assistance by putting section 94 contributions under the microscope and lobbying for a better deal with variations depending on where the development is to take place. The organisation, known as the Gosford [CBD] Property Owners Organisation, consists of a dozen or so property owners boasting ownership of approximately 70 per cent of the properties/land in and around the Gosford CBD. The aim is to reduce developer contributions within the CBD, where infrastructure already exists, from its current levy of 4 per cent. Val Bridge, 9 Dec 2010 Interviewees: Helen Polkinghorne, Environment and Planning Gosford Council; Margaret Paterson, LPMA; Cr Chris Holstein; Colleen Worthy-Jennings, Environment and Planning, Gosford Council; Bob Bourne, Bourne Family and Hotels.