Public meetings into council land sell-off start
An independent facilitator will hold public meetings during July to review the potential reclassification of land parcels flagged for possible sale by the former Gosford Council.
Parcels at 83 and 85 Brisbane Ave (Lots 195 and 196 DP 9894) Umina Beach have been identified as two of the parcels to be sold.
The potential reclassification of any parcels identified as community land "must involve a rigorous, fully informed and transparent community consultation process", according to Council chief Mr Ron Noble.
At the public meetings community members will be able to speak for or against any individual land reclassification.
"This is an important part of the consultation process," Mr Noble said.
The first of the public meetings was held on July 6, at the Erina Centre adjacent to Erina Library from 12pm to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm.
Independent facilitator Mr Gary Warnes has been appointed to conduct the meetings.
"The format of the public meetings will be largely determined by the independent facilitator," said Mr Noble.
"The community has been provided with the required 28 days' notice of these meetings.
"The independent facilitator will provide a report on the submissions made at the public meetings.
"All submissions received as part of the community consultation process, including those made during the public meetings, will be considered by the new Central Coast Council."
He said that, all up, around 30 land parcels were identified to potentially be reclassified and sold to generate much needed funding to reinvest back into vital services, facilities and infrastructure for the community.
"These identified sites represent around one percent of the former Gosford Council's community land parcels.
"A review of over 3200 Council land parcels showed these sites were either left over from previous works, of no foreseeable or limited use to Council and the community, or had been replaced by larger nearby facilities," he said.
Media release, 30 Jun 2016
Ron Noble, Central Coast Council