Editorial

This edition will find many of you still in holiday mode and we hope to be able to add to your entertainment before you return to your more regular activities.

With many of our usual news providers also still on leave, readers will notice that this edition of Peninsula News is "lighter" than usual.

We hope you enjoy the increased amount of human interest content and the new history and local tide information sections.

We aim to continue to provide these two new sections after things return to normal.

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The large number of tourists on the Peninsula has been of great benefit to local businesses with some reporting levels of business similar to previous years.

However, most have noticed that while business is better than on non-holiday periods, it is not as good as it was in previous years.

Some have put this down to people having spent their money or having taken holidays during the Olympics, as well as a residual effect of the GST.

Another suggestion is that that the face of the Peninsula is changing.

With house prices having increased so dramatically recently and more people moving into the area as permanent residents, the small fibro weekenders are quickly disappearing.

As our resident population increases, the number of weekenders available decreases and so does the influx of tourists.

Tourist accommodation is otherwise limited to the two caravan parks and three motels.

This would suggest that holiday business will not be as great in the future, but the business generated by a larger population should more than offset this.

Last month we published the text of a prepared speech made by Dr Andrew Refshauge, Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, to the Central Coast Moving Forward Forum.

Indications from this speech, and those made by local government leaders and other politicians recently, are that the Peninsula is not being forgotten.

The problems associated with our growth, as well as the challenges in taking advantage of it, are clearly foremost in the minds of many leading decision-akers.

Cec Bucello, Manager