Time is right for waterfront revitalisation – Hart

 

The waterfront must be a place for the people, says CEO

 

The start of something sensational, Administrator Rik Hart said, at the press conference to talk about the Gosford Waterfront concept plan.

He said the time is right for this, the latest plan for the Gosford waterfront.

He said the Six Cities Strategy was now in situ and that sets a blue print for what the State Government plans for the future.

With Gosford the gateway to the Central Coast, we want to make it an iconic waterfront city, he said, naming the hilltops “fortutiously previous councils have protected so you have that great vista and there is no intention of changing that, so we are surrounded by nature,” he said, calling them “captivating vistas”.

Already several major  Government initiatives and non Government  projects are occuring in the region and all that will bring value to the maritime, transport and tourism industries so Gosford and its future fits in with the current Six Cities strategy, he said.

Quite unusually, Council owns the seabed, he said, so there were only two owners and one land claimaint for the entire area: Council, the State Government and Darkinjung Land Council as the land claimant, so these are only groups who need to get together.

He said the time was right to integrate a waterfront precinct to the stadium, the city core, the railway, the hospital precinct and the planned vertical university and TAFE precincts.

He said no other city had a stadium with the view from Central Coast Stadium – “not even the MCG can produce that,” Mr Hart said.

There was close to a billion dollars of mixed retail and mixed use development that had been approved, under construction or like the Leagues Club proposal, coming soon.

“What we intend to do is make Gosford City one of the most liveable small cities in the State,” he said.

But he said the concept has to be owned by the people.

“It’s up to the community to decide what that will be,” he said.

What the concept will finally look like, will be up to the community.

“We are adding a large amount of public space,” he said.

There were three key areas; the stadium, the waterfront at the stadium end up to about Drifters Wharf and the rest of the waterfront up to the pool, the sailing club and beyond to the sea scouts hall.

In three week’s time, on October 18, the concept will be open for public comment.

 

 

 

Mr Hart said Council would not be financing or building the project, there would be delivery authority that would report direct to Government.

Council would provide the land and look after the public space once the work is done.

Mr Hart said that by gettting Gosford right, it would get the Central Coast right.

Later CEO David Farmer said a revitalised waterfront precinct would encourage the CBD developments to go ahead.

Mr Hart and Mr Farmer both have experience in these types of masterplans in the past.

Mr Hart worked to make Melbourne one of the most liveable cities in the country and Mr Farmer worked on big projects at Wollongong and Cairns.

Below are a series of photos to show the concepts.

 

 

ABOVE: This shows the larger area showing different landmarks or planned developments. The green ones are approved developments, the yellow ones are under assesment, the orange are under construction, the reddish area top right is the medical precinct and the blue ones are the Uni, TAFE and regional library sites

 

 

 

ABOVE: This shows the ideas with a legend to the left to explain what the numbers represent.

 

ABOVE: The view looking south.

ABOVE: The view looking north.

CEO David Farmer said Gosford was recognised as the Central Coast’s principal city in the NSW Government’s Greater Cities Plan.

“For Gosford to realise its potential, it must be connected to its waterfront, and the waterfront must be a place for the people,” Mr Farmer said.

 

 

 

 

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