Central Coast Council is recognising the community members who shared their stories as part of a year-long campaign that highlighted the Coast as a great place to live, work and play.Tagged Wyong Alive, the campaign was run as part of the 2015-16 Year of the Community and has been collated into a book to showcase the vibrant and diverse characters in our community.Council’s Community Partnerships and Planning Manager, Ms Julie Vaughan, said the past 12 months has showcased everyday people doing what they love best on the Coast.“Through Wyong Alive, we brought to life the stories of everyday people and have captured the overall journey in a book,” Julie said.“The book, Wyong Alive – The Story so Far, gives a special insight into our unique community and highlights the vast array of activities, places, traditions and personalities that make up our community.“Each month community members appeared in a number of different features such as history, sport, volunteers, entrepreneurs, creative arts, positive ageing, future leaders, Indigenous and more all shared through the Wyong Alive website, various mainstream and social media.“The book celebrates the stories of our community and everyone who told their story will receive a copy of the book to share with their family and friends.“We will be expanding the concept this year with Coast Alive giving monthly snapshots of the lives of people in our wider Central Coast community.“Wyong Alive has proved to be a successful campaign and has been recognised as a great way to build pride within a local community.”See the story so far by visiting www.wyongalive.com.au 

Live streaming of fuller Council meetings on the agenda   In a move to improve efficiency, transparency and public engagement, council resolved to undertake a six month trial of live webcasting of its meetings.At the first meeting of the new council on 25 May, the Administrator called for a report on the potential to webcast meetings to provide the community with an additional and convenient means of seeing the decision-making processes of council first-hand.  That report was presented to council tonight.The trial will include the installation of fixed cameras in both the Gosford and Wyong Civic Centres, with images and audio live streamed via the internet.Council will continue to alternate meetings between Gosford and Wyong Civic Centres.A further public exhibition will get underway shortly to gauge community views on webcasting and also a proposal to hold monthly instead of fortnightly meetings.Councils are required to hold at least ten meetings a year.

Registrations are still open for the SeaFM DISCOVERED series – the Central Coast’s premier vocalist competition for singers aged 7-24 years.The next heat will be held on Friday 5 August 2016 from 6.30pm, at The Hub Erina Youth Entertainment Venue, North South Road, Erina Fair, with a $5 entry fee at the door.This round will feature a selection of young people from across the region, performing two songs each as they contend for a place in the semi-finals in October and November.The series offers professional development opportunities for young people, and the chance for emerging vocalists and singer/songwriters to share in the spotlight.Contestants make their way through a series of heats, competing for the chance to perform in the Grand Final in December and be in the running for the first prize, $5000 in Macron Music money.The SeaFM Discovered series is presented by Central Coast Council Youth Services, and The Hub Erina Youth Entertainment Venue.Professional development partners include:

The wait is over – Bato Yard opens at 3pm!Bato Yard is the biggest skate park in the region and its opening has been the hot topic of conversation for local riders of all abilities and disciplines.Council’s Landscape and Recreation Planner, Mr Boyd McMillan, said this skate park will be one of the biggest and the most diverse in Australia as it will have a few features no others can boast.“Bato Yard has been built to a competition standard and has a rare feature in that it has a competitive street area and two competitive bowls all in the one park,” Boyd said.“The quality of CONVIC’s work shows through all over the park but is on display in the deep bowl – one of the most innovative and exciting bowls in Australia.“The highlight is the 12ft deep (3.6 metres) circular bowl with 1.5ft vert that rises to central 7ft twin hip open bowl and waterfalls down to a 9ft deep square end.

With the joining together of the former Gosford City and Wyong Shire Councils, we're now stronger together as one Central Coast Council.

The Woy Woy Road rail underpass for vehicles is set to re-open this Monday 1 August 2016 following the completion of emergency repair works by Sydney Trains over the last three months.Sydney Trains has now finished constructing protection columns around the rail bridge’s support structures and installing new, 2.5 metre height restriction bars on both sides of the underpass.Central Coast Council will be putting the finishing touches on Sydney Trains repair works over the weekend by installing median strips on the approaches to the underpass.Motorists especially need to be aware that the underpass’ height limit has now been reduced to 2.5 metres.

Central Coast residents will have a chance to meet their new Administrator and CEO when they pop up at Council’s engagement stalls from this week.Council has been rolling out the stalls in major shopping centres across the Coast as a one stop shop to answer resident questions about the newly merged Council.Council’s Administrator Mr Ian Reynolds and CEO Mr Rob Noble are set to join in and will pop up at the following shopping centres:Thursday 4 August:

This week Central Coast Council will close the playground at The Entrance Waterfront to undertake a major upgrade and expansion to the play area.A new larger play area will be installed over the coming months as part of the $3.5m upgrade of The Entrance Waterfront.As part of this project the nearby Sails Stage has already been removed, however the much loved Vera’s Garden will stay, as will the existing large pine trees in the area.Phillip Loone, Manager of Strategic and Environmental Planning, said that the upgrade is about Council investing in creating great outdoor spaces to enhance the area’s natural beauty.“The new play area will be a larger, more diverse, more colourful and interactive play space that will cater for children of all ages,” Mr Loone said.While the playground transition is underway, families can use the nearby playground on the other side of Memorial Park, next to the Visitor Information Centre.Weekly musical entertainment at The Entrance Waterfront will be temporarily suspended and resume once the demolition and related site works are finished.Upcoming festivals and events such as the Country Music Festival, the Ukulele Festival and Chromefest will continue as usual.Mr Loone said that Council’s contractors were working tirelessly to complete the overall upgrade of The Entrance Waterfront.

Central Coast Council is calling on the community to help identify who caused over $20,000 in damage at Northlakes Oval in San Remo.Council has been forced to close the oval after one of the floodlights was unbolted and knocked down deliberately.The 20 metre high pole has caused damage to the oval’s surface as well as shattering the lights and leaving shards of glass everywhere.

Laycock Street Community Theatre, in partnership with Bell Shakespeare, is hosting Central Coast auditions for the 2016 John Bell Scholarship on Wednesday 17 August from 1.30pm.The new scholarship is specifically for students in regional communities, in honour of Bell Shakespeare’s Founding Artistic Director John Bell.The program is designed to offer talented young Australians the opportunity to kick-start their arts careers with the support and guidance of Bell Shakespeare.Central Coast Council Arts and Culture Coordinator, Chis King said Laycock Street Theatre has enjoyed a strong relationship with Bell Shakespeare over the years and is always committed to supporting young people pursuing careers in the arts and creative industries.“This is an amazing opportunity for young Central Coast aspiring actors to fulfil their dreams of performing.”“With incredible touring productions and education programs, Bell Shakespeare is a leading example of how live theatre can engage audiences of all ages in arts and cultural activities.”“We are always privileged to bring Bell Shakespeare productions to Central Coast audiences.