I would like to congratulate the mighty Central Coast Mariners for their absolute thrashing of Melbourne City in the Grand Final of the A-League over the weekend. Alongside Mariners fans across the Coast and those who made it to CommBank stadium, I was elated when the team pulled out in front of City before half time, but it was the magic the team brought in the second half that was simply remarkable. Going up against the most well-resourced club in the League, it was the Mariners’ heart that propelled them above and beyond the Melbourne City side.As Mariners coach, Nick Montgomery said, “You can have as much money as you want, but you can’t buy class, and these boys are class.”Mariners, you have made the Central Coast incredibly proud. Rik Hart, Administrator

Five professional and two emerging local creatives have been selected to deliver innovative and contemporary new works as part of Central Coast Council’s ‘Creative Art Central’ program 2022/23.Creative Art Central is an annual commissioning program which offers funds for established and emerging creatives of diverse disciplines living on the Central Coast.

12 months ago the Central Coast became the second only destination in NSW to achieve international recognition as a sustainable destination through Ecotourism Australia’s ECO Destination Certification program – just in time for World Environment Day.Now as one of only seven ECO Destinations in Australia, Council is proud to be home to seven ECO Certified tourism businesses on the Coast, with another 10 local operators having commenced their journey to achieve ECO Certification.

Artists from around Australia are invited to submit works to compete for the Central Coast’s major institutional art prize, the annual Gosford Art Prize.The Gosford Regional Gallery is accepting submissions online now until entries close on 24 July 2023 at 4pm.Gosford Art Prize offers an exciting range of opportunities for the visual artists working in any art form to showcase their work to a large audinece and potentially become an acquisition of the Central Coast's art collection.The list of prize categories in Gosford Art Prize 2023 include:First Prize $15,000Second Prize $5,000Aboriginal Artist Prize $2,500Gosford Ceramics Prize $2,500Highly Commended (three prizes) $1,000 eachViewer’s Choice Award $500Gosford Art Prize is known for making a real difference to an artist’s career.

The Coast is set to come alive over the June long weekend, with Council’s Harvest Festival shining a spotlight on the wonderful food and produce the Coast has to offer. The Harvest Festival (10-11 June 2023) will be held in the hinterland regions and surrounds, while Taste of Wyong (10 June 2023) will bring Wyong Town Park to life. On Saturday 10 June, I’ll be attending the Taste of Wyong event, which is one of 32 Harvest Festival hubs, to host a pop-up stall where community members can speak to myself and Council staff about the issues that matter to them. This will be the second pop-up in a series I’m hosting at various Council events throughout this year, to chat with and hear from members of our community and increase opportunities for engagement. I invite the community to come down to Wyong Town Park to sample the wonderful offerings of local Wyong eateries, support our local businesses, and stop by to have a chat with myself about the issues that matter to you.I value the chance to hear directly from members of our community and look forward to the event on Saturday 10 June. For more information about Taste of Wyong, head to:

Central Coast Council will be carrying out some upgrades to Gosford Leagues Club Park to enhance its usability for the community.

As Council’s financial performance stabilises and its financial position continues to improve, a key focus is now on its long-term financial plan to ensure service delivery and infrastructure provision to the community is under-pinned by sound, stable and sustainable financial management.At the end of the third Quarter of the financial year, Council continues to project a net operating surplus for the remainder of this financial year.

Road works to fill potholes (temporary repairs) and longer-term road repairs such as heavy patching (section repairs) or road renewals (whole road rehabilitation) continue this week.

Central Coast Council continues to address maintenance and infrastructure upgrades across its vast water and sewer network as it moves into year two of phased rate increases.From 1 July 2023 the combined yearly bill for a typical household will increase by approximately $169, or $3.25 per week, for water, sewerage, and stormwater rates.  In May 2022, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) announced it would phase rate increases over four years to allow customers more time to manage the financial impact of the Council’s new pricing determination.Council’s Director Water and Sewer Jamie Loader said the rate changes had already helped deliver improvements to water and sewer operations over the last 12 months however meeting the community’s service expectations would take time. “Since July 2022, we have upgraded over 20.5km’s of new sewer lines and renewed 5.3km’s of watermains across the region.

Central Coast Council is currently seeking expressions of interest from community members who would like to join a community and stakeholder reference group to help develop a new Tuggerah Lakes Wrack Management Strategy - as part of the development of the Tuggerah Lakes Coastal Management Program (CMP).There will be three reference group meetings held at Council’s Administration building in in Wyong on 14 June, 5 July and 26 July.

Council is asking community members to cast their vote on the future design of Pelican Park, Woy Woy.You can have your say on three design concepts below:Option 1 – Nature playThis option utilises the existing playspace envelope with a nature play theme and retains all existing vegetation but does not include rubberised soft fall.Option 2 – Pirate-themed playThis option retains the existing pirate play theme with a reduced playspace envelope to comply with standards for play equipment fall zones, and to keep clear of existing tree roots.

POSSIBLE DISCOLOURED WATER NOTICEA water outage occurred this morning at Point Clare and Tascott, which since been restored.However there is the potential for discoloured water today for residents on:•    Brisbane Water Dr, Point Clare•    Broadwater St, Point Clare•    Coogee Rd, Point Clare•    Hughes St, Point Clare•    Nioka Ave, Point Clare•    Penang St, Point Clare•    Scott St, Point Clare•    Takari Ave, Point Clare•    Glenrock Pde, Tascott•    The Broadwaters, TascottIf you do experience discoloured water, run the front garden tap into a bucket for 30 seconds to check if the water clears.

You asked us last week why Council keep filling potholes on the same road instead of doing longer term repairs.In short, we do both over the life cycle of a road.

I’m very pleased to share that Council crews and machinery will be out on the sand berm at The Entrance channel in the coming weeks, commencing Council’s proactive program of works to move sand from the sand spit at The Entrance. The sand will be relocated to the northern foreshores of Karagi Point Reserve to renourish some of the eroded areas there, which put us in a stronger position if any flood mitigation works are required this winter. Although the focus of the works at this time is to protect and improve access and amenity around Karagi Point Reserve and the infrastructure there, these works will make it easier for Council to respond during a severe weather event, if one arises. Council has also chosen this timing as the critically endangered Little Terns have now flown to the northern hemisphere for winter.Protecting, restoring and managing our natural assets, including Tuggerah Lakes, is of high importance to Council and the strategic management of Tuggerah Lakes and The Entrance channel is undertaken on the foundation of expert studies, estuary and coastal management intelligence tools, and the expertise of specialist consultants and Council staff.Council is currently working towards the development of an Entrance Management Strategy through the Tuggerah Lakes Coastal Management Program.

Be part of our next event!

Planned work at The Entrance ChannelCouncil is commencing a program of proactive works to strategically move sand from the sand spit at The Entrance channel to renourish the eroded northern foreshores of Karagi Point Reserve.The program will include some berm height lowering of the Karagi Sandspit and take advantage of the opportunity to effect these works whilst the critically endangered Little Terns are in the northern hemisphere for our winter.These works will improve access and help protect the amenity and foreshore infrastructure at Karagi Reserve carpark.

This week’s Q&A:

One of the Central Coast’s hidden gems of the hinterland, the riverside town of Spencer, has been selected as a finalist in the Tiny Town category in the NSW Top Tourism Town Awards 2023. Cast your vote for Spencer to see this remarkable town acknowledged – voting closes this Friday 12 May at 5pm!The NSW Top Tourism Town Awards celebrate the diverse and outstanding regional destinations in NSW, and it’s no surprise that Spencer has made it as a finalist. The small town of Spencer sits among some of the Coast’s most pristine natural beauty and is home to a thriving and tight-knit local community. While much of the Central Coast has faced major challenges over the last couple of years including the impact of COVID on tourism and multiple extreme weather events, this resilient town worked hard alongside Council’s Tourism Team to ensure it bounced back quickly and put the Central Coast back on the map. The community of Spencer prides itself on its local cuisine and outstanding tourism experiences for visitors, which helps bolster the social and economic benefits for the community. Tourism really is part of the fabric of Spencer and is well deserving of being a finalist in the Tiny Town category. Vote now:

Council’s online services may be temporarily unavailable from 7am on Saturday 6 May through 5pm Sunday 7 May 2023.The following online services will be unavailable while we undertake routine software maintenance. Application payments•    Building certificates•    Construction certificates•    Complying development certificates•    Development applications•    Rezoning applications•    Subdivision certificates•    Tree works applicationsLicence payments•    Inspection fees•    Licensing feesRates and water bills•    Property rates payments•    Water bill paymentsBusiness and debtor invoices•    Tax invoices for sundry debtor accounts•    Trade waste account payments•    Business invoicesProperty application portal•    Building Information Certificate•    Tree Permit Application•    Roads Act Application•    Road Opening Permit•    Water Service Application•    Water Management Act Application•    Swimming Pool Compliance CertificateTrack Development applications •    Any development applications online via the eplanning portal.

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.