Central Coast Council will host a Building a Strong Foundation for Future Growth forum in March 2025 for all stakeholders in the development sector who have an interest in the Central Coast.
The forum will identify barriers to development, discuss the burning issues around growth and explore how some of these can be resolved, Mayor Lawrie McKinna said.
He put the forum idea to the December 10 Council meeting as a Mayoral Minute.
‘’This forum will be the start of a journey,” he said.
“A journey that will lay down the tracks for our train to leave the station, and ensure we are all heading in the same direction as we grow.”
He explained that he had recently attended an industry luncheon of the Urban Development Institute of Australia Central Coast chapter (UDIA).
‘’The event provided an opportunity to engage with leaders from the regional business community including the development sector, industry consultants and NSW government officials,’’ McKinna said.
‘’Growth on the Central Coast was a strong theme and the need to better plan for this was discussed.
‘’The current planning system, and the time taken to get projects through this system, was raised as a challenge.’’
McKinna said the council understood that the population was growing and community expectations were changing.
‘’As a new Council, we now have an opportunity to show leadership as we engage with the development sector, form partnerships with NSW Government and build a positive foundation for the future,” he said.
Councillors expressed support for the forum but some wanted it widened to include more community representatives beyond developers.
Councillor Corinne Lamont said it should be open to everyone, and called for a Central Coast Forum; a bigger event broadening the stakeholders to community as well.
‘’We all campaigned on development so let’s showcase the Coast to everyone, not just developers,’’ she said.
But she did not get have the numbers to get her idea up.
The councillors voted for the original idea.
After the meeting, McKinna spoke to Coast News.
“We say we are open for business, but delays in DA approval times are well documented,”
he said.
“In this forum, Council can express some of the issues they have to developers and vice
versa.
“It is also a chance for developers to hear what Council has been doing to speed up the DA
process; it’s all about information sharing.”
When McKinna addressed the UDIA November luncheon, he said the Coast was open for business.
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