Carpark still ‘very much on agenda’ says Wicks

Central Coast Commuters Association President, Eddie Ellis, at Gosford railway station

The long-awaited $30M commuter carpark at Gosford seems no closer to fruition, with Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill calling out Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, on the Federal Government’s inaction.

The carpark funding was announced in the Federal Budget just prior to the 2019 election, along with $5M for a carpark at Woy Woy.

O’Neill said it had been three months since that last comment from Wicks on the progress of the carparks and 31 months since they were first announced.

“Any further comments from her about this issue are, in my opinion, worthless until a car park is built,” O’Neill said.

Wicks said the carpark was very much on the agenda, with Central Coast Council’s financial woes delaying the process.

“The delays in the delivery of the Gosford carpark are largely due to the fact that scoping was initially being undertaken by Central Coast Council, but the Council went into administration in October 2020 and advised that it can no longer undertake the delivery of the project or commit to the ongoing maintenance of the carpark,” Wicks said.

Council has apparently ruled out adding extra levels to the existing commuter carpark, which is the option preferred and championed by Central Coast Commuters Association.

Association President, Eddie Ellis, has been vocal in his support for an extension of the existing carpark, claiming it could be increased to a height of 24.7 metres, which is approximately nine levels.

“We would like to see the structure reinforced to allow for future expansion, and to allow for as many levels as possible,” Ellis said.

Wicks said an extension was unlikely.

“This was investigated by Council early on and to my understanding, the current car park will not allow for many additional levels,” she said.

In a recent address to Parliament, Wicks said she was “incredibly disappointed” by delays to the planning for the Woy Woy carpark, to be delivered by Transport for NSW (TfNSW), with engineering issues holding up the planning phase.

She said Transport for NSW was also undertaking scoping activities to identify a suitable site for the Gosford carpark and that she would continue to work with the State Government to ensure both carparks are delivered “as soon and safely as possible”.

“I’m advised that, by the end of next year, the Government expects around 75 per cent of the projects under the Urban Congestion Fund to be completed or to be under construction,” she said.

“I will be fighting and advocating every single day, as I have since the project was announced, to see the Gosford and Woy Woy projects delivered as part of this number.”

Wicks said Paul Fletcher, as the responsible Minister for Urban Infrastructure, was in regular contact with TfNSW.

“As is typical when delivering infrastructure, construction start and finish dates will be announced once planning is complete and when the final design is developed; and the local community will be informed as soon as there are any developments,” she said.

“It is normal practice in the delivery of infrastructure projects for there to be a significant lead time between the announcement of the project and construction commencing.”

A spokesperson for TfNSW said it had begun early development work on both carparks, which volves identification of potential sites, assessment of the viability of these sites, including community impacts, alignment with other objectives and value for money considerations.

“The preferred option, potential delivery and operational dates will be determined as part of the work and provided to the Australian Government,” the spokesperson said.

“Timing for delivery is subject to community engagement, approval and release of funding.”

Terry Collins