Treasurer Scott Morrison’s announcement that the ATO’s 600 staff would be located on the former school site near the waterfront shows remarkable change over a five-year period.
The site was identified in the Our City, Our Destiny Masterplan for Gosford City Centre (2010) as part of the performing arts and entertainment precinct.
The Gosford Challenge was a two-year initiative led by Gosford Council for planned re-development of Gosford CBD and waterfront, and lauded by then mayor Chris Holstein who said:
“Our City, Our Destiny has been created by thousands of local residents..this plan represents a true refl ection of what the community has asked for… the level of community input and involvement in this masterplan is unprecedented in our region.” (Media release Aug 31, 2010).
The redevelopment of the school site as part of the performing arts precinct was used to support the removal of the school, which was opposed by much of the community.
In 2012, the site was identified as a State Significant Site by the NSW Government and subsequently re-zoned B4, allowing mixed use development up to 48m height (but another 30 per cent higher under Council’s current bonus provisions).
In October 2014, the federal government called expressions of interest for lease of 6,000 square metres of office space in Gosford to house the proposed ATO staff relocation.
Now, a year later, the announcement comes that the former school site would be the location of this office space. How has such a transformation been allowed to happen?
From school site to multi-storey office space, from local government planning through state and now federal government intervention and decision making, from public land (school site) to private use (office building).
Who is behind all this change? Not the community which has been forgotten once again. Shame on all levels of government, including Gosford Council, for not fighting for implementation of the masterplan for its community.
The ATO office space can be located anywhere in the CBD, away from the waterfront. The performing arts centre should remain as originally envisaged, on the publicly owned former school site.
Email, Sep 28, 2015
Enn Karm, Gosford