Documents released after a protracted Government Information Public Access (GIPA) process reveal facts about the soon-to-be vacated Gosford library building in Kibble Park that support its retention for adaptive reuse and weaken arguments for its demolition.
The documents reveal the building should have been heritage listed in 2016, but senior staff from the former Gosford City Council removed it from their heritage inventory without ever explaining why.
Central Coast Council never put it back.
In April 2018, the NSW Government Architect included the building as a feature of Gosford’s civic heart in its Urban Design Framework: “The existing library becomes a community space with exhibition space, meeting space and amenities for the park”.
A 2020 Central Coast Council Heritage Study Review included the building, which was found to meet six out of the seven criteria, resulting in a recommendation to list it in the Central Coast Council Local Environmental Plan (LEP) as a built heritage item.
The NSW National Trust listed it last year.
Freedom of information request
Now, documents released thanks to the GIPA process, show that correspondence last year between Central Coast Council’s heritage experts and others highlighted the historical significance of the building, its architectural importance and its aesthetic, creative and technical value.
One email said: “There are seven criteria for assessing the heritage significance of an item as set by Heritage NSW and Gosford library possesses all seven of them, some at the state level.
“Gosford library is of state significance as it is representative of the distinguished artisans, craftsmen, architectural and building industry professionals within the ACT and Sydney during the innovative mid-century era of advancing construction and engineering.”
It has direct associations to the iconic Sydney Opera House and Canberra’s national carillon.
The experts stated that the building would be “perfect for adaptive reuse” and could generate income for Council.
The 2024 emails questioned the absence of published costings for the demolition.
If not for the tenacity of local historian, Merril Jackson OAM, none of the correspondence would be public.
But none of it was released until after the recent public consultation period over the building’s future.
Council was criticised by the Information and Privacy Commission over its handling of the GIPA request.
Jackson lodged her GIPA application on May 16, 2024 and has just started receiving documents in recent weeks.
Council while under administration had earmarked the building for demolition once the new regional library across the road was completed.
The new library will open in September and the current library will close on August 16.
The councillors, elected last September, created a review panel to discuss the library’s future. Its next meeting is on Tuesday, August 5.
Bravo, Merril Jackson!
I’ve not heard positive things about the GIPA experience. We all owe you thanks, not only for going through the motions, but also for knowing the questions to ask to get the information you did
As an aside, where can I find details for the next protest? I’d certainly like to hold a sign up myself