Woy Woy qualifies for transport hub
What has been the relationship between transport and urbanisation on the Central Coast?
Historically, the realisation of a transport hub in providing a focus for onward journey has increasingly contributed to urban sprawl each time the dominant mode of transport has been subsumed by further "improved" methods.
The first European settlement on the Central Coast is believed to have been established circa 1823 via a waterway infrastructure corridor linking Port Jackson in Sydney to Woy Woy on The Peninsula.
This method of transport required minimal infrastructure other than the vessels themselves and led to the realisation of a regional transport hub centred around the waterway network.
The completion of the main northern railway in 1887 saw the introduction of a rail infrastructure corridor linking Sydney with Gosford.
This particular method of transport consolidated regional commerce and population growth due to the increased capacity, speed, and reliability with which it was able to distribute both freight and passengers across multiple inland and coastal population centres and led to the realisation of a regional transport hub centred around the rail network.
While the waterway network had become subsumed by the rail network in its contribution to socio-economic growth and urban sprawl, it continued to play an important role in establishing and sustaining villages surrounding the Brisbane Water that remained inaccessible by any other means.
Woy Woy would eventually grow to become a town as the footprint surrounding the original village continued to expand due to its strategic access to satellite population centres both on the Brisbane Water and the Gosford hinterland.
The arrival of the private motor vehicle and the completion of the Pacific Hwy in 1930 saw the introduction of a road infrastructure corridor linking the City of Sydney to our regional capital the City of Gosford.
This new method of transport, fuelled by the aspiration for sovereign personal mobility, further accelerated socio-economic growth and led to the realisation of a transport hub centred around the road network.
Improved access to inland "real estate" and the concomitant gain in regional productivity that it accommodated compelled the authorities to invest in the expansion and maintenance of the fledgling road network.
This shift in the balance of public spending did not significantly dampen the ability to deliver on other essential services and ultimately facilitated a relatively disinhibited pattern of inland urban sprawl over many decades.
Interestingly, funding for the development of the Gosford hinterland would eventually overshadow further development of Woy Woy as a regional town centre.
Fast forward to today and Central Coast residents are experiencing increasing traffic congestion, rising fuel prices, escalating land rates, weakening of the Australian dollar, and a growing concern for the competitiveness of our regional economy
Large scale industrialisation and urbanisation in neighbouring China and India are contributing to higher prices across a broad range of commodities including crude oil and natural gas.
In the face of these worrying trends, we could be forgiven for speculating that the introduction of the electric motor vehicle would somehow shine a light on a possible way forward.
Unfortunately both affordability and opportunity cost are likely to remain significant impediments to sovereign personal mobility irrespective of the fuel source.
What might have once been considered an "improved" method of transport, the ubiquitous motor vehicle is now becoming an increasing economic liability for both local residents and the regional economy within the current economic climate.
Attempts to shore up our regional finances by selling off more land to build more residential dwellings, if not done with considerable forethought, will only serve to increase our dependence upon a method of transport that by itself is no longer compatible with any responsible pattern of medium to long-term socio-economic development.
If the Central Coast wants to attract the talent and ingenuity required to establish and strengthen its unique economic brand then the considered option of an integrated regional transport network that appeals to both commuters and tourists alike would certainly be a priority pathway for significant regional investment.
The "improved" method of transport in this particular case would necessitate a regional transport hub centred around a composite transport corridor, or the leveraged intersection of our road, rail, and waterway networks.
As chance would have it, there are only two strategic locations on the Central Coast that pre-qualify: Woy Woy and Wyong.
SOURCE:
Email, 23 Feb 2024
John Highton, Erina