Peninsula No 43
Phone 4342 2070
COMMUNITY ACCESS Fax 4342 2071
News
Postage Paid Australia
PAPER INC Print Post Approved PP255003/04388 4 June 2002
Six-storey rezoning plan for Ettalong An application to have a precinct of the Ettalong CBD rezoned to allow up to six-storey development will be considered by Gosford Council tonight (Tuesday).
Debra Wales with some supporters at Ettalong
Debra Wales is Liberal Cr Debra Wales will be the Liberal candidate for Peats in the March State election. Opposition leader Mr John Brogden made the announcement on a visit to Wyoming Shopping Centre with Cr Wales. Cr Wales said that, in the Peats electorate, the Coalition planned to put police back on the beat in shopping centres like Woy Woy, Ettalong and Umina. "As part of this strategy, the Coalition's plan is to put locallybased and locally-led police back into Woy Woy police station, a former patrol command that is now just a base for the highway patrol." She said Woy Woy railway station would be part of the beat for local police. Mr Brogden said the reestabiishment of dedicated beat police would form an integral part of the Coalition's plans for a return to community-based
policing on the Central Coast and stopping crime before it happened. "Beat policing reduces crime and enhances community safety," Mr Brogden said. "According to Bureau of Crime Statistics figures, crime on the Central Coast has soared since the Carr Government abolished dedicated beat police and downgraded 80 former patrol commands across NSW. "In both areas robbery with a weapon (not a firearm) also skyrocketed, up by 325 per cent at Gosford. "The figures clearly demonstrate the Carr Government has not done enough to curb crime on the Central Coast during seven years in Government. "Under a Coalition Government, beat police will patrol appropriate beaches, shopping centres and railway stations along the Central Coast," he said.
The precinct is the block adjacent to the Ettalong Beach Club, bounded by Memorial Ave, Ocean View Rd, Picnic Pde and The Esplanade. Concept plans were submitted showing four buildings "proposed to be erected, generally at each corner of the precinct, with a central piazza public area", according to an officers' report to Council. The plans indicated that buildings fronting The Esplanade would be five to six storeys from street level and buildings fronting Ocean View Rd would be four storeys. R e tail , c om m e rcia l a nd recreational activities would occur on the ground floor, with up to 140 residential units and serviced apartments above. An underground, basementlevel carpark would cover the whole area. The application was prepared by consultants Wales and Associates for the Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee and the Ettalong Beach W ar
Memorial Club. It was presented to Council, along with an "Ettalong Beach Centre Study" in January last year. The application would increase the floor space ratio from 1:1 to 2:1 and change the zoning from 3 (b) to 3(a) "to provide for a combination of commercial, retail and residential use". The officers' report notes: "Part of the precinct is in a condition conducive to development, with it being used as a temporary carpark for the Club until the new resort is redeveloped, with other developments reaching the end of their economic life or vacant land." The report stated that PlanningNSW's Living Centres Team considered that the Centre Study and rezoning need not be delayed pending preparation of an Integrated Planning Strategy (IPS) for the Peninsula. However, the report also noted that PlanningNSW 's acting regional coordinator Mr Martin Halliday had said that spot, ad hoc rezonings should not be supported without a broader strategic framework that potentially could emanate from an IPS. The council officers' report provided information about the
Ettalong Centre Study, which also recommends changes in four other adjacent precincts "to provide greater incentives for redevelopment, increase residential and commercial densities, create opportunities for niche recreational retailing and review carparking requirements". The report also describes the Living Centres Team proposed IPS for the Peninsula, the NSW Coastal Design Guidelines discussion paper, the Urban Design Framework and the future role of Gosford CBD in relation to the planning. "There is clearly a need for a more proactive approach to strategic planning within Ettalong Town Centre," the report stated. "There is also a need for consistent urban design standards within the existing shopping strip and mechanisms to link key development projects within the centre. "Community and business expectations for the future directions for the town centre highlight the need for a review of the whole centre. "There is some difficulty, however, in undertaking a Strategic Plan without the benefit of the overall Integrated Planning Strategy for the whole of the Peninsula."
Property prices rise 15% Peninsula property prices have risen an average of 15 per cent in the last year, according to Mr Craig Shields of Century 21 Umina Beach. Mr Shields attributed the price rise to the demand from elderly couples from Sydney looking for an older style home in an acceptable position to be rented out for up to 10 years. "Their objective is to pay off as much as possible and then build their dream retirement home afterward," he said. "Since property prices are a lot cheaper up here than down in
Everglades
Sydney, the move gives them extra cash for retirement. "A lot of properties are attracting higher prices than expected and plenty of buyer attention. "It is getting very hard to find a quality three bedroom home under $250,000. "It's becoming obvious that any area within two hours of a major city is experiencing considerable price increases." The most popular growing areas were the Central Coast, Bowral-Southern Highlands, Newcastle, Orange and Wollongong, he said. Mr Shields said that, according
to Australian Property Monitors, Central Coast prices had on average increased by approximately 11.5 per cent in the last year.. Bowral increased by 16 per cent, with unit prices there increasing 26 per cent. Mr Shields said that the outlook for property prices remained strong, with interest rates expected to go up "only marginally and slowly". "The expectation is that as the economy gains more strength, the brakes will be applied through a higher Aussie dollar exchange rate." Newsletter, May 28