Call to keep research station

Citizen of the year Ms Heather McKenzie of Woy Woy South has spoken out against the State Government's planned closure of the Horticultural Research Station at Somersby and Narara.

Ms McKenzie said she was disappointed in the State Government closing down what was a vital contributor to the Central Coast economy.

"It's a damned shame if they close it down.

"They do so much work up there."

Ms McKenzie said that, unlike most Central Coast residents, she had known about the station for almost 40 years.

"When I first moved to the Central Coast, someone said to me 'you know where you get your oranges from don't you?'

"I went up there and they said, 'we'll have stonefruits in a few months', so I kept going.

"Then about six years ago, they said to me I couldn't come anymore as they had to lock the gate.

"They were going to do research now."

Ms McKenzie said she witnessed a presentation given by scientists from the centre to Gosford Council on Tuesday, July 6.

"I couldn't get over how much work they do up there and how much it means to the Central Coast."

The research station does research in horticulture and aquaculture, and is a major centre of research in NSW.

They were recently selected by a Japanese company to become the green tea capital of Australia and inject an estimated $5 million into the Central Coast economy each year.

The NSW government wants to close the centre down and combine it with one currently at Camden.

The station sits on 150 hectares of land at Somersby.

Alison Branley, July 9