Central Coast Commuters’ Association (CCCA) is “horrified” at State Government plans to sell off land in Mann St, Gosford, to make way for more housing.
The land, at 255 Mann St, was once the site of Booths Motor Group and has been used for several years for parking, with its close proximity to Gosford station.
It was announced recently as one of three Central Coast sites to be sold by the government as part of its plan to address the statewide housing crisis.
A Transport for NSW spokesperson said the “underutilised” commuter carpark at the station would absorb the loss of parking spaces in Mann St.
But CCCA spokesperson Eddie Ellis said selling the site would exacerbate commuter parking problems in the CBD.
“They should be planning to add more car parking in the near future, not less,” Ellis said.
“Pre-COVID that commuter carpark was often full by 7am on weekdays.
“My understanding is that it is now full from Tuesdays to Thursdays with a few spaces left vacant on Mondays and Fridays, when people are still obviously working from home.
“But eventually parking at that commuter carpark will return to pre-COVID levels.”
Ellis said this would happen sooner rather than later if the Liberal Party wins the May 3 Federal election and carries through on forcing public servants to return their places of work full time, with several government office blocks in the Gosford CBD.
“Once more, parking near the station is going to become a real issue,” he said.
“A more sensible plan for that block in Mann St would be to provide several levels of parking topped by residences.
“That way everyone wins.”
Ellis is urging commuters and train passengers to write to Member for Gosford Liesl Tesch objecting to the plan to sell the site purely for housing.
Be careful. These are foreign builders that will turn Gosford CBD into multiple high rise. You don’t want this. Sydney is over developed.Jyst because this 9s how people like to live in Asian cities doesn’t mean we have to follow suit.All they care about is making money. Sydney has been developed about as much as possible so they are developing here, it’s close enough to Sydney by commuting. There are apartments not finished in the old quarry. Focus on that. No new high rises. Stop now , while you can. Next it will be Woy Woy. I hate to think what this area will be turned into.
how many cars parked there? not e en a carridge full??
would much prefer to see land that has already been cleared for much needed housing to save what remains of our precious bush and wildlife. why dont you start a campaign for more public transport so people dont have to park near the station – those closer could even – gasp! – walk.
More and better public transport as well as more and safer cycle paths are needed and way before more housing is built, so less people will be forced to drive their cars to the station (or really everywhere, as it is the case for most coasties). Traffic and pollution is becoming horrible in many areas in the CC.
Less parking, more incentive to catch a bus.
CCC selling off the farm again..
This carpark provides secure and convenient computer parking,and at a safe distance from the station especially for women or other vulnerable people travelling after dark.
When will the CCC put pressure on the developers to utilise the old old Markettown site standing idle for decades, the victim to poor planning and foresight ..
Will the slash and burn approach to development in Gosford also see
the demise of the library building
worthy of recycling as exercised by so many world cities ..
Yes increase the frequency of bus services and I would happily leave my car home. Hourly services are a joke.
bye bye Gosford. welcome to Beijing style high rise to the Max.
The council allows wiley niley construction without though for the future of Gosford, unfortunately Mann st incapable of handling future traffic. Gosford will become a bottle neck with thousands of residents trying to access their units not to mention all the people trying to shop.
Common sense says you cannot build high rise building without the roads being able to handle the traffic.
The only way out now is to build a tunnel through the mountain at the back of Gosford to reach East Gosford to unblock the current and future congestion.
Why can’t it be both? By combining the parking station and housing together, there will be no housing shortage in Gosford once all these projects are completed and those planned in the near future.
Apart from the fact that this is technically selling public land to private developers, repurposing this land for housing is a much more efficient use than as a car park.
It’s located directly opposite Gosford Station and its bus bays. Living next door will benefit people who commute via public transport or want to live closer to ammenities, as well as improving traffic congestion/pollution by removing cars off the road from people who would otherwise be driving.
Most major cities are moving away from a car-dependent lifestyle and I believe this is a step in the right direction to making the coat an attractive and livable city for those who value walkability,ease of access to amenities and transport connectivity.
Just what the central coast needs NOT.
Not enough hospital beds and staff
Overcrowding in schools
Not enough doctors to serve the ever growing coast population
More housing equals more population growth
Let’s fix these problems before , adding more people
I’d say the move to sell the carpark is a change for the better. Carparks are a horribly inefficient use of space (especially so close to public transport), and that applies doubly so for single-level parking like this. Not to mention, our bus infrastructure is better than what many parts of Sydney get – 5 minutes of extra commute isn’t going to kill anyone
But for the love of all that is good, if another high rise is built there, PLEASE make sure the builders do a good job. Some of the new apartment buildings been shockingly rough, and we don’t need to keep that trend going
I’d suggest that council use the money from the sale to build a multi-level parking structure ABOVE the bus interchange, which should have been done YEARS ago, when the interchange was re-vamped.