The Joint Regional Planning Panel has deferred its decision on whether or not to approve the $34.2 million NSW Department of Finance office development at 32 Mann St, Gosford.
The development application included a six storey commercial building with three levels of basement car park. A briefi ng meeting was held at the Gosford Chambers of Central Coast Council on September 15. According to the JRPP record of the meeting, the key issues discussed were: fl oor space ratio and height compliance; parking; design; active frontage; future redevelopment of adjoining sites; blank southern wall details; wind; and the possibility of a communal room or music practice rooms. Mr David Abrahams, Treasurer of the Gosford Waterfront Alliance, said the briefing was attended by around 40 people and that the JRPP deferred its decision on the request of the applicant, being in this case, the Crown or NSW Government. “The applicant put in a request for the matter to be deferred immediately, but the JRPP Chair said, given that those in attendance were already seated, they would run with the briefi ng anyway,” Mr Abrahams said. At the conclusion of the meeting, all JRPP members agreed that they were willing to defer their decision. “The Crown did not effectively give detailed reasons for requesting a deferral,” he said. “They said they had to go back and do some more homework and they said they were concerned by the Land and Environment Court action because if the ATO didn’t go ahead, and therefore the Baker St extension didn’t go ahead, they may have to redesign access to their building.”
The Land and Environment Court action Mr Abrahams referred to was by the Gosford Waterfront Alliance against Doma, the company building the Australian Taxation Offi ce on the corner of Mann St and Georgiana Tce. On behalf of the Gosford Waterfront Alliance, Mr Abrahams argued that a better location for the NSW Department of Finance building would be the block on the corner of Faunce St and Mann St. The site is currently used as a ground-level commuter car park but it is owned by the NSW Government, is cleared and has all services available. “We sensed that proposal was taken quite seriously by the panel,” Mr Abrahams said.
The Mann St and Faunce St location could also be developed up to 10 or 12 storeys and was closer to the railway station and existing shopping centres. Mr Abrahams said the proposed Finance Department building is signifi cantly larger than the ATO proposal. “If it goes ahead, it will cement the waterfront as an offi ce precinct,” he said. “The proposal has not been widely distributed or promoted. “Instead, on their own evidence, the proponents have gone behind closed doors to garner the support from Chambers of Commerce across the Coast, who have sadly abandoned the Gosford master plan that they previously supported. “Community groups such as the Gosford Waterfront Alliance have been effectively locked out of discussions about this project, the largest building to be built in Gosford since the WorkCover Building or Stadium,” Mr Abrahams said.
“The applicant was the state government itself, not a developer, as in the Doma/ ATO proposal. “This makes any community objection very diffi cult, as a Crown applicant has signifi cantly more power to have their proposal approved. “It becomes, in effect, a tick box exercise, as pointed out by one of the speakers. “The State Government proposes to then sell the building immediately after JRPP approval. “This clever (too clever by half) plan avoids the normal scrutiny and yet hands a fi nished proposal to the private sector to build, own and lease back to the NSW Government on a 10 year lease.” Mr Abrahams said it was unusual for the proponent in a matter before the JRPP to request a deferral, “supposedly not wishing to give opponents the opportunity to speak. “
To the credit of the five-person JRPP, verbal submissions, both for and against, were heard.” The Gosford/Erina/ Coastal Chamber of Commerce, The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Chamber of Commerce’s advisory committee and the Gosford Business Improvement District (GBID) lead the charge in support of the project. Their lead arguments, according to Mr Abrahams, were that Gosford had been in a slump for many years and this opportunity would bring jobs and confi dence to the city. Speakers from the Chambers argued that groups like the Waterfront Alliance were against all development and should be “ashamed of themselves” for they do not represent the silent majority of people on the Central Coast. “Accusing the community groups of being negative and holding all development back was disappointing,” Mr Abrahams said. “Interestingly, the advocates did not argue the merits of placing a second offi ce block on the waterfront as opposed to building it in the CBD proper,” he said. The Alliance, Friends of Gosford and Concerned Residents of Gosford led the submissions arguing against the Finance Department building proposal.
GWA congratulated the state government on their relocation plans of the State Finance Office to Gosford but pleaded that the proposed current location was not the best for Gosford as it was overly contentious, not close enough to existing businesses and transport options and risked being delayed by significant heritage finds on the site, street access and the outcome of the Land and Environment court challenge to the ATO building. The GWA further argued that the alternative site at the corner of Faunce and Mann St offered a much better location and called on the state planning and fi nance ministers to seriously consider this option.
The GWA also held out a hand, hoping that they could work with both council and business chamber advocates to jointly support appropriate developments on the site and elsewhere in Gosford. “The Alliance underlined that we were very prodevelopment but argued that the broader community and past planning agreements needed to be taken into account,” Mr Abrahams said. No date has been set for a panel meeting to make a determination on the development application.
Website, Sep 20, 2016 JRPP record of briefi ng, 2016HCC028 Email, Sep 20, 2016 David Abrahams, Gosford Waterfront Alliance Interview, Sep 20, 2016 Claire Braund, Gosford Waterfront Alliance Jackie Pearson, journalist