Issue 178
20 November 2019
Your independent community newspaper - Ph: 4325 7369
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Application lodged for rezoning to develop a 300 lot housing subdivision
entral Coast Council is considering rezoning land at Lake Munmorah to develop a 300 lot housing subdivision. Applicant, EDH Group, wants Council to start the process of rezoning the 27.2ha site at 285-305, 315, 325 and 335 Pacific Hwy, Lake Munmorah, to low density residential and environmental conservation. This is part of the draft Greater Lake Munmorah Structure plan which was on public exhibition earlier in 2019 and is due to be reported back to Council before the end of the year. Secretary of Lake Munmorah Progress Association, Stuart Durie, said the detailed concept plans were put to the community on several occasions during the exhibition period of the Structure Plan and it seemed that no objections were raised.
An indicative masterplan of the Lake Munmorah site – the red section could be rezoned for 300 housing lots “There seems to be a general consensus,” he said, “and anything that precipitates the start of the second stage of the Woolworths centre is a good thing”. The site currently comprises an animal boarding kennel, dwellings, telecommunication tower, retail nursery, a service station, four water dams and most of
the land is cleared. The proposal seeks to amend the Wyong Local Environment Plan or the future Central Coast LEP to allow a minimum lot size of 450sqm to the site to retain consistency with low density residential lots in the surrounding area. A specific Development Control plan will be prepared by Council staff to ensure any
future development is properly integrated with an expanded future commercial precinct and other adjoining residential development. The developer will be required to provide intersection and road upgrades as well as contributing to cycleways and footpaths in the locality. A traffic study submitted with the
proposal states that most of the additional traffic from the development will pass through Chisholm Ave and on to Tall Timbers Rd and will require significant road upgrades. Alternate access options to the Pacific Hwy are also put forward by the applicant for a new intersection on the highway and Kangaroo Ave.
The best traffic management solution will need to be confirmed by Council and the Department of Transport before the planning proposal can be publicly exhibited. Included in the green corridors will be significant opportunities for rehabilitation, recreation links and a public cycleway. A continuous link of vegetation and wildlife corridor between Lake Macquarie and Lake Munmorah must be retained and restored. Councillors decided at the October 28 meeting to defer a decision until a site inspection was held as well as a workshop to consider key principles in transport, land capability, sustainability and liveability features. Source: Meeting, Oct 28 Agenda item 2.2 Central Coast Council Interview, Nov 12 Stuart Durie, Lake Munmorah Progress Association Journalist, Sue Murray
NSW Audit Office audit has delayed production of council’s financial statements
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entral Coast’s financial statements will eventually be out on display for the public to see that council has “absolutely nothing to hide”, Chief Executive Officer, Gary Murphy, said. He said it “is pretty
unusual” for the statements to be so late but people should not read anything into that. “Council has a thorough risk and audit committee with very experienced people who are on top of everything, particularly the financial statement,” he said. He assured the public that council would not commence
public consultation on the statements over the Christmas period when everyone was on holidays. The councillors would “form an opinion” on the financial statements probably in February next year and then they will go on public exhibition. He said it was frustrating for everyone, but the auditors were
entitled to do all the testing they needed. Murphy said it was the first time that the NSW Audit Office had audited the council and they were taking a lot of time, mainly seeking to understand how the council operated. The auditors were doing a lot more testing around the control environment, such as
who has the authority to sign off on costs, etc. and it was taking a lot longer than anyone would have expected. “To be fair to them, they are used to auditing State Government Departments and Local Government is new to them,” he said. He said it was unusual to adopt the Annual Report without the
financial statements because they were such a large component of it. At council’s November 11 meeting, councillors agreed to adopt the annual report and wait until February 29, 2020, for the financials to be added as an addendum.
Office: 3 Amy Close, Wyong Phone: 4325 7369 Mail: PO Box 1056, Gosford 2250 E-mail: editorial@centralcoastnews.net Website: www.centralcoastnews.net
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