That was the message from Central Coast Council which welcomed the release of the Regional Plan for the Central Coast this week. 

The plan is designed as a ‘blueprint’ for growing the regional economy, accelerating housing supply and protecting and enhancing the natural environment over the next twenty years.

Population growth figures for the Central Coast were revised last month and are now projected to increase to 415,000 by 2036.

That’s more than the population of Canberra today. 

Council’s administrator Ian Reynolds said he hoped the plan provided “the right tool set” to meet the needs of what is now a much faster growing community. 

“We submitted our strong views on the draft plan and, like others on the Coast, are looking forward to seeing how our feedback has been adopted in the final plan,” Mr Reynolds said.

“Our community values our natural environment, amenities, relaxed lifestyle and sense of community and we want to sustain and enhance that.

“We need to accommodate a lot more people here over the next 20 years and the only way we can do that is by creating more housing options, more local jobs and more infrastructure so our growing community can continue to live and thrive here.

“We have done a lot of work already to identify the key areas and projects we need to drive investment and jobs growth in our region.”

Under the plan, the Central Coast Delivery, Co-ordination and Monitoring Committee has been established to be accountable for achieving the plan’s vision and goals.

It comprises representatives from council and state government agencies.

“As the only region in the state that has one council, we welcome our seat at the table to help ensure we move the Central Coast forward,” Mr Reynolds said.

“Delivering a sustainable future for the Central Coast will require ongoing adequate funding of projects by the state and federal governments as well as council.”