Details on the new Woy Woy Commuter carpark have finally been revealed, including its chosen site and an extra $8.2M of government funding, three years after the project was first announced.
The carpark will now be an extension of the existing Transport for NSW-owned car park on Railway St, southwest of the station.
The Federal Government announced in their Budget on Tuesday that an additional $8.2M will be required to deliver the project – taking the original $5M carpark up to a whopping $13.2M.
Transport for NSW expects to commence construction “by the end of 2022” however details on its completion date could not be confirmed.
Details on design specifications could also not be confirmed.
The announcement of the chosen site was made on March 24, nine months after the community was first promised to receive the concept designs.
Member for Robertson, Lucy Wicks, who first announced the project just prior to the last election in March 2019, said the long-awaited project is expected to create 140 parking spaces.
“We know this has been a challenging process: we’ve been able to deliver the funding but then working with our partners in government to make sure this project is completed, has been one that is without its challenges,” Wicks said.
“Increasing the capacity of park-and-ride facilities in Woy Woy will support public transport usage, helping ease congestion on local roads and improve travel times.
“It is also expected to support 30 direct and indirect jobs during construction.
“Payments of federal funding are made on completion of agreed project delivery milestones. The Australian Government’s funding is budgeted and ready to flow.”
Wicks declined to comment on what the extra funding will be contributed towards, if the extra funding was needed due to the delays in completing design plans, and how much of the original $5M had already been spent on this project.
Survey work is expected to begin soon on the proposed site to help Transport for NSW develop a concept design.
“Survey work on the south-west side of the existing car park is expected to start in the coming days, weather permitting,” a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.
“This will inform development of a concept design for additional commuter car parking.
“The project development report was submitted by Transport for NSW to the Australian Government earlier this year, together with the preliminary project estimate, and this has since been endorsed by the Australian Government.
“The community will be consulted on the project concept design later in the year as part of the planning approval consultation process.
“Timing for delivery of additional car spaces is subject to community engagement, project planning approval and release of project funding by the Australian Government.”
A new shared footpath is expected to be installed to connect commuters from the carpark to the station, with the project also to include new signage and line markings, new streetlights and CCTV on the footpath for the safety of pedestrians.
Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure, Paul Fletcher, said the impact of construction on commuters will be assessed during the detailed design phase.
“There is always a lead time when it comes to infrastructure projects – there is a need to do the detail and planning work…we’ve identified the optimum site looking at issues like cost, how quickly it can be delivered, and being within property owned by Transport for NSW,” Fletcher said.
“There have been a number of factors and complexities in relation to this extension of commuter carparking and inevitably, it’s an iterative process as you identify potential sites.
“The precise timing [of construction] will depend upon some more detailed planning work but based upon other commuter carparks around the country, typically for a project of this scale, it can often be built in less than 12 months, and we can be confident that the construction will not be more than 24 months.”
It’s a project that has been marred with uncertainty and allegations of illegitimacy after the Australian National Audit Office’s (ANAO) report identified the car park would more than $210,000 per space under the Urban Congestion Fund, which is 430 per cent above the benchmark figure.
However, Fletcher said this is not the case.
“The figures quoted in the Auditor General’s report took one of a number of options and came up with a number that was much higher on a per-spot basis than was ever realistically likely to be the true cost,” Fletcher said.
“What I can say is that the cost per-sport of the commuter carparking will be materially less, markedly less, than the numbers quoted in the report.”
The ANAO report also identified the Department of Infrastructure had looked at three other potential sites –an existing carpark opposite The Pavilion, an existing carpark next to the Peninsula Plaza, and existing carparks opposite Woy Woy Oval.
The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce welcomed the final site selection but said commuter parking, whilst necessary, has a net negative impact on the Woy Woy town centre.
“Whilst the Chamber welcomes the news, we still maintain that more emphasis should be placed on public transport connections and kiss-and-ride facilities rather than simply adding yet more car parking to an already overstretched town centre,” Chamber president, Matthew Wales, said.
“The Chamber also wants to see both the NSW State Government and the Commonwealth invest more funds into business and job creation programs that facilitate employment opportunities in our main town centres, particularly Woy Woy where redevelopment has been sadly lacking.
“Creating high quality jobs locally will take the pressure of local residents needing to travel into Sydney for employment.
“Ultimately, commuters do not significantly contribute to the local Woy Woy economy as they simply want to get to and from work as quickly as possible. They do not spend significant dollars in town.”
The Chamber said they are “actively encouraging” Central Coast Council to push forward with the Woy Woy town centre planning review and new Place Plan so that revitalisation programs and redevelopment can be planned for the future.
At the last election, the Federal Government also committed to a $30M commuter carpark at Gosford Station however planning appears to have stalled, with no details yet available on timelines or its concept design.
Fletcher said the Federal Government is “continuing to work through” the plans for the Gosford carpark.
It’s an issue that has riled up Wicks’ opposition with Labor Candidate for Robertson, Gordon Reid, hitting out at the Federal Government for their “mismanagement.”
“The commuter car parks have been promised repeatedly by the Liberal Government for the last two elections,” Reid said.
“If we look back at past promises made by this government, any new election commitment by Scott Morrison is unlikely to come to fruition.
“They continually promise large sums of money for projects here on the Central Coast and then never deliver.
“This is becoming tiresome for the residents of the Central Coast – tiresome because we are continually overlooked and forgotten.”
Maisy Rae