Council housing response either futile or disastrous
It is believed that the Council might tell the Minister that it could, one day, review its much-criticised planning controls to bring them into conformity with reality("Council to tell Minister of planning review intentions", PN 583).
But this is only if somebody else will provide the money to pay for the necessary work which is apparently beyond the Council's current abilities
It is heartening to see such a dedicated commitment from Council to clearing up the mess of the current development control plan and, perhaps, the shambles of the development-application system.
A fine reading of the statement suggests that what it actually means is that the Council intends to do nothing at all, unless the Minister absolutely demands action or threatens to take away Council powers, in default of the Council's getting its act together (perhaps, not such a bad idea in any event).
When one looks at the contents of the Central Coast Local Housing Strategy (now, at long last, in the process of finalization), not a great deal of confidence is generated by the idea that the Council will take another bite at the cherry, if someone is silly enough to donate the funds needed.
If the Council were serious, it seems unlikely that the funds couldn't be found from savings in some of the more frivolous undertakings that the Council has committed us to.
For instance, wasn't money set aside for the umpteenth iteration of the Gosford Waterfront Renewal Phantasy which seems to have been lying doggo for some time now.
Putting off this unfructuous effort for a few years would seem to be quite worthwhile, if it would allow us to address the real planning/housing needs of the region, by reallocating the necessary budget.
I am, of course, not advocating another simplistic bureaucratic exercise along the lines of the consolidation of the old Gosford and Wyong plans, which took years to achieve and resulted in the kind of mountain/mouse outcome that we've come to expect from Council.
I am talking about a fundamental rethinking of the whole framework of housing management by someone who knows what he's talking about and has genuine ideas to contribute to a housing solution.
Just reading the report submitted by staff on this matter calls for a dose of aspirin and a cooling compress for the head.
Council has outdone itself in the compilation of platitudes, statements of the obvious and wielding of meaningless jargon that have been applied to this document.
The Council is now promising to "review land use tables ... review dwelling and density capacity ... (and) provide an overview of the housing challenges faced by the Central Coast ... (with) further NSW Government support".
Leaving aside the question of why Central Coast should be entitled to special support for a job that is clearly the responsibility of local government in general, it beggars belief that the Council is, at this moment, "finalising" its housing strategy, without tackling any of these fundamental issues referred to in the report: what on Earth could the strategy possibly be based on, if the Council hasn't yet taken into account these primary steps in the process.
The management of housing provision is probably the most crucial issue that Council is facing over the next two decades, but what has been done to date and what is currently proposed is either futile or disastrous.
I'd suggest that Council would be hard-pressed to find a single person in Central Coast who would say, with hand on heart, that he/she thinks Council is doing a halfway adequate job of protecting our present neighbourhood assets or shaping our future housing environment, as we want it to be.
Hoping, Micawber-like, that something will turn up to solve our problems for us is not an approach that is going to pay off for those of us who will be here long after our temporary Administrator has departed.
Here is a platform that a Council candidate could run on, if we are ever allowed to choose our own representatives again.
SOURCE:
Email, 3 Dec 2023
Bruce Hyland, Woy Woy.