Central Coast Council wants the State Government’s Regional Plan 2041 to focus on resolving issues for an existing 1,103Ha of undeveloped employment zoned land rather than include additional employment land at Somersby, Charmhaven and Wallarah.
The revised Regional Plan is currently on public exhibition and a Council staff report to the Administrator outlined the current situation.
“As of December 22, 2020, there was approximately 2,137Ha of existing employment zoned land on the Central Coast, of which 1,034Ha is developed; and 1,103Ha is undeveloped (only 249Ha serviced),” Council said.
The current CCRP 2036 identifies 871Ha of future employment land for investigation.
This land is not yet zoned for employment.
The draft CCRP 2041 identifies another 800Ha of employment land (for investigation) within the Central Coast, over and above the 871Ha of future employment land for investigation identified in CCRP 2036.
Council said, with an average employment land take-up rate of 12Ha/annum over the last 10 years, there was already sufficient capacity to accommodate job projections and targets over the 20-plus year life of the plan.
“This includes tolerance for the net developable area due to land constraints,” Council said.
“Demand modelling undertaken as part of the Central Coast Employment Land Audit, Monitor and Strategy calculated between 142Ha and 160Ha of additional employment land would be required across the Central Coast to meet demand over the next 22 years.
“It is therefore difficult to justify the identification of these additional employment precincts based on current employment land supply and demand.”
Council said more focus should be given to resolving issues for the existing 1,103Ha of undeveloped employment zoned land, including resolution of servicing and biodiversity certification issues that have delayed development of these lands.
The next Council-under-administration meeting on February 22 includes an item to discuss Council’s response to the draft Regional Plan.
The State Government plan is on public exhibition until March 4.
Merilyn Vale
Council staff continue to focus on the wrong metric. Low take-up of employment land doesn’t reflect low demand, rather the severe constraints that exist upon currently zoned employment land, very little of which is serviced and ready to be taken up. Just ask anyone who has ever enquired about the many available land parcels in the Somersby Industrial Precinct how practically impossible it is to develop on it, once biodiversity and aboriginal heritage contraints are considered. Nothing is feasible!
Ask Borg, our largest employer on the Coast, who have tried to expand their operations on suitably zoned land, but been met time and time again with refusals and conditions that make it impossible to expand and to generate the additional jobs the Coast is begging for.
Demand is sky-high when developable employment land comes up for sale, just look at what happened at Jilliby/Kiar Ridge a few months ago when lots were sold way above asking prices in a matter of days.
Disappointing to see that despite the changes in leadership at Council nothing has changed and the organisation continues to be hell-bent on stimying progress and employment opportunities the Coast desperately needs. The Regional Plan sets out an action for additional employment land to be investigated, to confirm it’s needed, subject to appropriate checks and balances. It’s not suggesting it be rezoned right away. Why is Council already in opposition to this before the evidence is collected and presented? What are they so afraid of? Whose interests are they serving in doing so?