Heritage NSW considers listing Gosford library building

Heritage NSW will consider a nomination for Gosford Library to be listed on the State Heritage Register at its July meeting.

It has also asked Central Coast Council to consider conducting a heritage assessment of the library in Kibble Park, Gosford, and the potential for local heritage listing.

“Heritage NSW has identified that the library may have local heritage significance,” a spokesperson said in a letter to a Central Coast resident.

The resident had written to Environment and Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe asking for an Interim Heritage Order to be placed on the library to prevent a demolition tender from being awarded.

Council has recently advertised a tender for the demolition of both the library and the former Broadwater Hotel in Mann St, Gosford.

The resident had also written to both Heritage NSW and the Government Architect NSW (GANSW) about what they called council’s apparent falsification of Kibble Park concept documents and public consultation.

The letter had pointed out that the NSW Architect had recommended the library be repurposed but more recent Council documents have changed that to repurpose the building beside it – which has no heritage values.

Push to save Gosford Library building

The resident said that in 2018, the community understood that the intention was to repurpose the Gosford library building.

And, with that in mind, the existing building received a major roof upgrade, solar panels, termite remediation work and a major upgrade to the air conditioning.

The Council then conducted another round of Kibble Park concept plans in 2020 and 2022, quoting the GANSW in the documents.

GANSW confirmed in an email that it had not modified the original Gosford Urban Design Framework and was not consulted by Central Coast Council regarding the latest proposal.

“Why did we, the public, go through years of public consultation with the NSW Government and Architect if the Urban Design Framework guidelines were not going to be followed?” the resident asked.

“Can the public trust consultancy practices? Clearly not!

“If not deception, the Council is totally making a mockery of the NSW Government Architect and the Gosford Design Urban Framework, and the Central Coast public look like fools!”

The resident said the intended demolition of the Gosford Library was never made clear to the community, nor was there a direct question within the (recent) online Kibble Park survey platform about it.

The building was ideally placed to activate the Kibble Park precinct and would be well suited as an annexe to the new library, or to be repurposed for many other civic uses, the resident said.

“Demolition of this important existing resource is environmentally negligent, especially considering the Coast is sorely needing more civic infrastructure and services, not less to make way for a more open park,” the resident said.

“While the Central Coast Council has long blocked this modernist building from being local or NSW state heritage listed and recognised with heritage value, the Gosford Library building was recently registered with National Trust NSW.”

The National Trust registered the building earlier this year.

Council has said it would demolish the old building when the new regional library opened across the road.

Construction on the new library started in March with an expected opening in mid 2025.

Project expenditure is $8.5M as of May 31, 2024, against a total budget of $32.7M.