Gosford’s Kibbleplex carpark to close in March as council terminates lease

550 parking spaces in Gosford are set to close as council votes not to renew the lease of a longstanding carpark.

550 carparks will no longer be available in the Gosford CBD from March. Picture: Peter Clark

The 550 Kibbleplex carparks will no longer be available from March.

At Monday night’s meeting, Central Coast Council’s interim administrator Dick Persson AM voted in favour of not renewing the lease of the longstanding two level Gosford carpark.

The carpark will remain open until March, with council indicating the decision was made due to council’s financial situation, availability of carparking in Gosford CBD and the recent approval given for development of the site.

The Kibbleplex site is set to be transformed to the tune of $345m, with five towers to house more than 700 apartments along with commercial premises and pedestrian links.

The site of the old Kibbleplex Shopping Centre, which has been leased by council for parking.

The first stage of the $345m five tower development has been approved.

While stage one, including demolition of the building, has been approved it is not known when demolition will occur and if council could have extended the lease.

Mr Persson said he believed the decision not to renew the lease was the most sensible.

“With the recent approval of the development of the site, it wasn’t going to last much longer anyway,” he told the Express.

There is a free Central Coast Council commuter carpark at 10 Racecourse Road in West Gosford. Picture: Sue Graham

“The decision wasn’t driven by finances but it does help a small amount.

“There are 550 carparks at Kibbleplex and 380 were being used on average per day.”

Gosford has had a long running history of limited carparking, however the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a dramatic drop in demand due to people working from home.

Mr Persson said the Gosford City carpark, which has capacity for 650 cars, was currently only operating at around 20 per cent.

He said the council also had free carparking options on Racecourse Rd in West Gosford and at Adcock Park.

Council stated it may reconsider the introduction of a free courtesy bus from Racecourse Road and Adcock Park to the Gosford CBD.