Urban design plan for Peninsula

The Woy Woy Peninsula is to have its own "precinct level" strategic plan by June next year, designed to reflect the unique character of the locality.

The plan is part of Gosford Council's "urban design framework", which would attempt "to improve the look and livability" of localities within Gosford.

"Being a strategic planning document, it would focus on the broad scale and the long term, setting an overall context from which more detailed and localised guidelines, studies, plans and projects can be co-ordinated," council planners told a recent Council meeting.

"After completion of the urban design framework, council would have available to it a set of strategic plans which would provide objectives for how the urban built environment of the precincts of the City could be improved to better match the quality of the existing rural and natural environment.

"These objectives could be developed into more specific controls relating, for example, to building design, building materials, aspects of land use, street tree provision, physical access, drainage system design and other aspects that determine the physical appearance of an area."

Council staff said three steps would be involved in preparing the framework.

The first was to determine how the State Government's planning strategy "Shaping the Central Coast" and the Council's Residential Strategy would affect the future land use within a precinct.

The second was to determine "what constitutes the character or look of an area".

"For each locality, an objective detailed character description will be prepared which identifies how the inter-relationship of the elements listed create the feel of an area.

"This description will identify the most important of these elements and in particular, how previous and current building controls and works undertaken by public authorities have influenced the character of the locality."

The third step would be to review "various social and economic changes" and to assess what development changes are likely in the future.

Recommendations would then "be made to Council and the community regarding what actions may be appropriate to retain or improve the character of a locality".

Council officers conceded that "little strategic planning has occurred relating to the appearance of the built or urban environment and, in particular, how the built environment can be improved so that it does not detract from the quality of the rural and natural environments".

They said this had occurred because "for over three decades, the State Government has identified Gosford and the Central Coast as an urban growth area to cater for Sydney's burgeoning population".

"Council's limited resources during this period have mainly been concerned with seeking to provide basic infrastructure to meet the needs of the growing population.

"Greater attention needs to be given to the strategic planning of the built environment to enhance and capitalise on the existing strengths of the area, thus projecting an overall image of Gosford which allows the area to remain competitive and continue to attract investment."

Mark Snell, April 28