Last week, Council hosted the Central Coast Housing Forum, where community representatives, not-for-profit housing providers, government agencies, developers, Members of Parliament and Council representatives all came together to discuss the housing situation on the Central Coast. 

The Central Coast is currently home to 348,000 residents. It is projected that our population will increase to over 404,000 people by 2041 – that’s another 55,000 people, or 2,800 people every year! To house these people, the State Government’s Central Coast Regional Plan 2041 anticipates we will require an additional 32,550 dwellings. 

Knowing that significant population growth is what the future holds for our region allows us to appropriately plan and prepare – so I asked Council to put on the Forum to get insights and perspectives from these key stakeholder groups, and to ensure that community representatives had a seat at the table.

Forum participants discussed a range of issues and potential solutions, but key themes and sticking points were:

• The Central Coast is vast and travel times are long, we need better infrastructure to support population growth.
• All three tiers of government – federal, state and local governments need to work together. 
• The type of housing that is currently being built is not reflecting the changing needs of the community, particularly for young and older people.  
• We need to change our mindset from thinking about property as a wealth building tool rather than an essential element for quality of life. 

A key message that came out of the Forum is that there needs to be a simplified process to provide affordable accommodation of various types. To achieve this, more collaboration and discussion is required at all levels – government, Council, developers, community groups and of course the local community itself.

We have to remove barriers, but at the same time ensure that affordable housing is of good quality, fits in with its ‘neighbourhood’ and most importantly provides what is needed to the demographics seeking accommodation.

It was agreed that there is no silver bullet, but it was acknowledged that we need to think outside the square on solutions, listen at a local community level for ideas and also concerns about types of development.

It is evident that there is genuine concern from all stakeholders and equally, a willingness to find solutions to this real crisis on the Central Coast.

I would like to thank everyone who came along and shared their views, and strongly encourage everyone to have your say on this matter. 

Council’s draft Local Housing Strategy is open for community consultation until tomorrow, 3 May 2023. Have your say here: yourvoiceourcoast.com/housing

Rik Hart, Administrator 

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