To revive the waterfront at Gosford, you need to provide some reason for people to visit there.
It needs some sort of tourist attraction which will attract the crowds and provide customers for Iguana Wharf and the eateries planned for the area. How about building a full size replica of one of the sailing ships of the First Fleet and anchoring it on the waterfront?
Tours of the vessel could be provided and it could sail around Brisbane Water similar to the tall ship cruises that take place around Sydney Harbour.
A replica of the first settlement at Sydney Cove and a museum could be built on the land (the sports field and old Gosford School site) opposite the waterfront, providing tourists an opportunity to see what life was like for the first European settlers to Australia.
If done properly such an attraction could persuade a large number of the thousands of overseas visitors who stay in Sydney each year to make the short journey to Gosford to visit what could be billed as the birthplace of modern Australia.
It would be great for school trips as well. Attracting all these visitors, many of whom could come by train, would also be a huge boost to businesses in Gosford and also provide a boost to other tourist attractions on the Coast and the hotel industry with the marketing of Central Coast mini-breaks.
For this attraction to succeed, the Central Coast Hwy would need to be rerouted from the roundabout just past the Central Coast Stadium as you travel from West Gosford around the back of the sports field and the old Gosford School site, re-joining its original route at Masons Pde.
By doing this, you will reconnect the waterfront with the vacant land in front of it, providing a great open space, free of traffic, to build the attraction.
Noise walls could be built around the back of the development to block out the traffic, these could be painted to provide a scenic backdrop to the attraction.
For this project to go ahead, there would need to be a partnership between Gosford Council, State and Federal Government and perhaps a private developer could be persuaded to come on board.