2023 in review – March

The community was outraged when Council announced it intended to sell of the Woy Woy commuter carpark

We continue our series on the biggest news stories of last year on the Central Coast – let’s look at March.

It was announced that the biggest energy storage battery in the Southern Hemisphere would be installed at the former Munmorah coal fired power station site and DAs were taking an average of 122 days to be processed by Central Coast Council.

There was community uproar when Council announced its intention to to sell the commuter car park at Woy Woy and its option to buy 220 spaces in the Deepwater Plaza car park to the new owners of the plaza – Council later did a backflip on selling the carpark.

Residents rallied to demand the removal of the shark net program in Central Coast waters amid fears for non-target species and it was announced that Reflections Holiday Parks would take over management of the Norah head Lighthouse reserve from September.

Council forged ahead with plans to redevelop the Gosford waterfront

Council announced it would forge ahead with early works on its redevelopment plan for the Gosford waterfront despite not having secured State funding for the project and Kariong Progress Association reaffirmed its opposition to a proposed housing development on Woy Woy Rd.

The Varroa Mite disease expanded on the Central Coast with beekeepers facing the prospect of euthanasing their bees, the housing crisis and homelessness on the Central Coast emerged as one of the largest election issues in the region and the Her Wave Teams Classic saw more than 160 female surfers descend on Shelly Beach.

Election night on March 25 saw the seat of Terrigal remain too close to call for several days and all other State seats on the Central Coast returned to sitting Labor MPs.

Terrigal was subsequently declared for Liberal sitting member Adam Crouch.