Chamber welcomes Umina expansion

Peninsula Chamber of Commerce president Mr Matthew Wales has welcomed the likely expansion of the Umina Beach CBD commercial zone in the soon to be released Draft City Wide LEP by Gosford Council.

"It is our understanding that the Draft City Wide Local Environmental Plan due to be released for public comment in the middle of this year will have some good implications for the Umina Beach town centre," Mr Wales said.

"Following the adoption of the Peninsula Urban Directions Strategy by Gosford City Council in 2007, many of the recommendations are likely to be incorporated into the new City Wide LEP.

"In particular, the Chamber expects to see the expansion of the commercial/retail zone from the northern side of the West St shops through to Wellington Ave.

"This would extend from Ocean Beach Rd through to Trafalgar Ave.

"We see this as being vitally important for the future growth of the Umina Beach town centre so as to ensure that the opportunity exists for additional high quality commercial and retail floor to be added.

"In recent years there has been added pressure for good quality retail floor space to augment the existing retail centre.

"Much of the existing floor space is aging and with renewed interest from major retailers in Umina Beach, expanding the options is very important.

"With an ever-improving demographic and more spendable income, we see Umina Beach CBD increasingly becoming a much more vibrant retail centre with obvious demands for quality floor space and more accessible parking."

Mr Wales said that council's recent decision to undertake kerb and gutter works in Wellington St following the successful completion of the Wellington St/Ocean Beach Rd roundabout shows the importance of the Umina Beach strip shopping centre in Council's forward planning.

"The Chamber of Commerce has been lobbying council for many years to improve parking and access to the shopping centre and we are pleased that our concerns are being addressed in both recent engineering works and future planning controls," Mr Wales said.

Press release, 23 Mar 2008 Matthew Wales, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce