THE newly formed Central Coast Council will manage an annual budget of $800 million, and more than $11 billion in assets, it was revealed at last night’s meeting.
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Councils are required to report quarterly on their financial position.
At the meeting, a report was presented to the Central Coast Council administrator Ian Reynolds on the former Gosford City Council’s finances projecting a $20 million surplus.
A similar report will be presented to the next Council meeting on the former Wyong Shire Council finances.
The former Wyong Shire Council’s 2016-17 Strategic Plan details a $258 million operating spend and a $101.4 million capital works program while maintaining the budget bottom line with a projected surplus of $14.9 million.
In other business, Mr Reynolds said he would take a fresh look at some of the key projects on the new council’s agenda.
He called for status update reports to be brought before future council meetings on a number of key projects including:
- the Performing Arts Centre on the Gosford CBD waterfront;
- The Australian Tax Office administrative building for Gosford CBD;
- a proposed V8 Supercar motorsport event in Gosford;
- development of the Warnervale Town Centre;
- the Link Road to Warnervale; and
- the proposed Mardi-to-Warnervale water pipeline.
“I am determined to quickly get across the detail of major projects on the Central Coast to ensure they are right for this region and will deliver the jobs and opportunities our community need,” Mr Reynolds said.
One project that will proceed is the sale of land in Orchard Road, Kangy Angy, to the state government to build a multi-million dollar train maintenance facility.
The project has the potential to create hundreds of local construction jobs and ongoing employment on the Central Coast, the meeting heard.
Some Kangy Angy residents spoke against the proposed sale at the meeting.
The land was identified by the state government in September last year as the preferred location to establish a new fleet management facility.
The site was chosen due to its proximity to the railway line that the new InterCity fleet of trains will regularly travel on.
“It is likely the state government would have moved to compulsorily acquire this land if council had not agreed to sell it,” Mr Reynolds said.
“This decision guarantees the best outcome for council and residents.”
Mr Reynolds also resolved to amend the Code of Meeting Practice to make it easier for residents from across the Central Coast to attend council meetings.
Meetings will be held in the council chambers of the Gosford office on the second Wednesday of the month, and at the Wyong office on the fourth Wednesday of the month.
All meetings will be audio recorded, and Mr Reynolds has asked for a report on the potential web casting of future council meetings.
“I am keen for council meetings to be as accessible as possible to the community,” he said.
“Holding meetings in both centres and potentially web casting the meetings will help us communicate as directly as possible with the residents and ratepayers of this large and growing region.”
The draft code of practice will be placed on public exhibition for 28 days.
Central Coast residents are invited to make a submission.
