`We owe it to Gosford’: NSW’s top planner’s prediction for world class regional city
THE state’s top planner has boldly predicted Gosford will become one of the powerhouses of regional Australia in the next five years, sending a clear message to great rivals Newcastle and Wollongong .
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THE state’s top planner has boldly predicted Gosford will become one of the powerhouses of regional Australia in the next five years, sending a clear message to great rivals Newcastle and Wollongong that the Coast’s capital is on the cusp of rediscovering its mojo from the halcyon days of the 1970s.
Gary White, who helped lift southeast Queensland city Ipswich out of the doldrums before becoming the NSW Chief Planner in late 2015, said when Gosford “activates its waterfront, connects its town centre and has connectivity to its railway station and hospital, then the sky’s the limit”.
In a remarkable show of faith in the much-derided gateway to the Coast, Mr White said Gosford’s “own unique qualities” would return it to the glory days before Erina Fair opened three decades ago.
“The message I was getting about Gosford (before my two visits over the past six months) was very negative. But I was seeing a centre that is already changing and not one we need to put a defibrillator on,” Mr White, a Life Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia, said.
“I can see a vibrant city centre with restaurants which are connected to the hospital precinct — a major employment hub — sports stadium and office buildings.
“Both Wollongong and Newcastle have come from a very solid industrial base. They’ve transformed from one type of base to another. Gosford’s emerged from a different way and has a different character. It needs to play on its strengths in a different way to the others.”
The 40-year planning veteran said a “cultural shift” was critical in accompanying the new major projects in Gosford’s CBD which include the $234 million triple-tower Waterside development, on the site of the former Frogys building, and ad mogul John Singleton’s $35 million Bonython Tower.
“I had the same experience at Ipswich where it was so hard to get people to have pride in their shire,” said Mr White, who last year won the top gong at the annual Planning Institute of Australia NSW awards for planning excellence.
“It was a community that had done it hard around employment, but when we put the investment into activity hubs then suddenly there was a new-found confidence.
“And in relation of the impact of Erina Fair, this is a classic conversation about so many centres that suffered on the back of new shopping models going on. But now, you’ll find there is a move back to the authentic places.”
After criticism from residents’ groups that the New Australian Taxation Office and state finance building were not the architectural masterpieces desired for such a wonderful waterfront setting, Mr White said “those opportunities still exist”.
“What’s importantly already happened with the new buildings going in is a statement of confidence in the CBD,” he said. “If you don’t have a CBD that gives off that confidence, it’s very hard to get it to permeate across the broader area.”
“Gosford has the potential to be a regional city that’s going to be talked about and admired elsewhere around Australia as a great example of what you can do with this sort of setting
“I’m not just saying this as the government’s chief planner. I can actually see the positive ingredients (of Gosford) from a purely planning point of view.
“Other regional centres around Australia haven’t got the level of investment that’s gone into Gosford Hospital and the other buildings on the waterfront.”
In relation to many idle approved DAs which have held back Gosford for years, he said: “They will materialise when (companies) can see they are part of something special.
“They are what I call ‘absent partners’ who are waiting to see a positive direction.
“It’s going to be a five-year journey, but we owe it to Gosford to make sure it can return to the position of a top-class regional city.”