Peninsula Community Access Edition 374
News Phone 4325 7369 Fax 4321 0940
17 August 2015
Council buys more land for rail underpass Gosford Council has decided to buy more land than originally planned for the Woy Woy railway underpass. Council had previously resolved to acquire land for road widening purposes in accordance with its Land Transaction Policy and using grant funding in August 2014. Changes have subsequently been made by Transport NSW to the proposed rail crossing location and orientation. As a result, Council adopted a recommendation made by its department of construction and operations to increase the road widening previously required from the property at 170 Woy Woy Rd. The whole project includes a major realignment of Woy Woy Rd at Horsfield Rd and widening down Bulls Hill, construction of the Woy Woy Creek Bridge and associated works, construction of a new rail underpass and roundabout adjacent to the Woy Woy treatment plant as well as a major realignment of Nagari Rd. “Stage one work encompassing the construction of the pedestrian underpass adjacent to the existing level crossing near Rawson Rd has been completed,” according to a report prepared by Council staff. Stage two of the overall project, which includes construction of the rail underpass, reconstruction of Nagari Rd and the construction of the Woy Woy Creek Bridge required the partial acquisition of a number of privately- and Councilowned properties. The acquisition process is currently nearing completion, according to the report. Since March 2015, the components which directly affect rail infrastructure will be managed by Transport NSW with Gosford Council being given responsibility for delivering the remainder of the project. “Transport NSW has made changes to the orientation and construction methodology of the rail underpass, which now requires an increase in the area of land needing to be acquired from one of the privately-owned land parcels.” The area now requiring acquisition is 900 square metres,
an increase of 850 square metres. “Preliminary discussions with the property owner have been positive. Therefore it is recommended that Council proceed with the revised land acquisition,” the report to Council stated. The report also asked Council to note additional title information relating to COSS and reserve land included in the project. Cr Craig Doyle said the acquisition did involve COSS land that was “inadvertently included”. “Quite a large parcel of the land we are talking about is actually road reserve and the area doesn’t have the attributes we need in our COSS land,” Cr Doyle said. Cr Gabby Bowles said the issue of the COSS land inclusion had also been discussed at a meeting of Council’s environmental subcommittee. “When it first came to light, COSS land was needed for this infrastructure upgrade it was found that a great portion of land is actually covered by existing roadway,” Cr Bowles said. “Also land previously held had been reclassified as COSS land five years ago but the infrastructure project identified over 20 years ago,” she said.Cr Hillary Morris she believed Council had an agreement in place that when land was sold to the RMS for the project, money would go back into COSS. “That is not mentioned here but I do have the previous resolution, and it is a shame it wasn’t identified as road reserve in the first place,” Cr Morris said. Cr Chris Burke said the issue had been discussed with RMS NSW two years ago and Council had been told the land would be compulsorily acquired irrespective of its classification as COSS land. “They pointed that out to us in no uncertain terms so we are getting money for jam,” Cr Bourke said. The recommendation to acquire the land was carried with only Cr Morris voting against it. Gosford Council agenda CON.25 11 Aug 2015 Reporter: Jackie Pearson
MPs David Harris, Kathy Smith and David Mehan with Peninsula residents at NSW Parliament for the debate on the closure of Woy Woy Motor Registry
Motor Registry closes The Woy Woy Motor Registry in Victoria Road closed on Friday, August 7. It came the day after the NSW Parliament debated the closure, with members of the Peninsula and surrounding community cheering from the gallery. “The government is signing a death warrant for the town,” Member for Gosford Ms Kathy Smith told Parliament. “Businesses will struggle as the heart of Woy Woy, the motor registry, is ripped out,” she said. Services NSW Minister Mr Dominic Perrottet said in reply: “The government will continue to monitor services in Woy Woy.” “It will be difficult to monitor the services as there are no state services left in Woy Woy,” Ms Smith said. Former Member for Gosford Ms Marie Andrews attended the debate to show support for Ms Smith. “It is outrageous and will inconvenience thousands of people from the Peninsula,” Ms Andrews said.
“The Baird Government just wants to save money at the expense of the people,” she said. Member for Terrigal Mr Adam Crouch said Ms Smith was “grandstanding” about the RMS closure. However Ms Smith and other members of the opposition benches said 15,000 signatures on a petition was not grandstanding. Ms Linda Coggins, a driving instructor from the Peninsula, also attended the debate. “The main point Mr Crouch was trying to make was that there were 800 car spaces available in Gosford,” Ms Coggins said. “What he doesn’t seem to understand is that those spaces fill up by about 8:30am by commuters using the train,” she said. Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, Mr David Harris, spoke in support of Ms Smith. “The Minister needs to know there is only one small road heading into Gosford called the Brisbane Water Dr and the traffic is horrendous,” Mr Harris said. “We haven’t won today but
we will fight until the Peninsula receives the services it deserves,” Ms Smith said. Patonga resident Ms Jeune Coach, who is 85, said she had received a letter from Services NSW to say the motor registry had been relocated to Gosford. Ms Coach said she had received a brochure in the mail which outlined what would be provided by a new mobile service that would be available in Woy Woy from the end of August. Ms Coach said she passed her driving license with flying colours in June but still chose to have a 30km license restriction and did not drive at night. She said her main concern about driving to Gosford to use RMS services was not the drive but the lack of parking and the need to walk to the Services NSW shopfront. Media release, 7 Aug 2015 Kathy Smith, Member for Gosford Interview, 12 Aug 2015 Jeune Coach, Patonga Reporter: Jackie Pearson
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