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Building density decision welcomed

The decision of Planning Minister Dr Andrew Refshauge's to reject Gosford Council plans to lower building densities on the Peninsula has been welcomed by Save Our Suburbs spokesman Mr Bryan Ellis.

Rejection of plans to change some areas of the Woy Woy Peninsula from 2(b) zoning to the lower density 2(a) zoning, as a trade-off for high-rise in the Gosford CBD, will be welcomed by the majority of the City's residents who oppose the mayor's "monument-building exercise" in the Gosford CBD, he said.

"The trade off for reduced congestion on the Woy Woy Peninsula must now be abandoned," Mr Ellis said.

"Always a misguided attempt by our councillors, the refusal of the Minister will have little effect on the surging development that he is encouraging.

"Put simply, there are few blocks of land on the Peninsula where it is not possible to build two three-bedroom units next door under current zonings.

"The trend is for two storeys so that single storey houses or villas next door have no privacy in their open areas.

"The recently adopted 'character statements' that were supposed to define future development in the context of what already exists eg. 'single dwellings with room for the kids, gardens and trees' are revealed as merely a distraction to amuse the hundreds of residents that are concerned about the creeping over-development and congestion of their suburbs," said Mr Ellis.

"The fact is that the population growth into multi-unit dwellings is changing the character of the area every day.

"Unless we continue to send strong messages to the Minister and Council, the character and lifestyle of our suburbs will be lost to 'misguided governments and developers' in the words of Cr Brooks.

"Minister Refshauge's comment that on the Central Coast 'There have been stresses but not system failures' at the recent 'Growing Pains' conference at Terrigal ignores the social breakdown that is evident to resident's daily and well reported in the local press.

"The rail and road systems are approaching capacity and failures are not rare.

"Is the State going to wait for the rail system to fail before they do something?

"Will Council wait until the water system fails before they do more than fund another study?

"Rapid and unplanned population growth is destroying all the qualities and values that most people came here to enjoy," said Mr Ellis.

Save Our Suburbs meets on the second Saturday each month at 3pm at South Woy Woy Progress Hall.

Press release, August 2