Posted in Editorial

Last month this Editor had the privilege of attending the opening of the new CSR-Hebel Autoclaved Aerated Concrete facility at Somersby, the most advanced AAC production facility of its kind in the world. CSR invested $75 million in this plant an indicator of their confidence in supplying into Australia's construction industry but also, and more important for us this was an expression of their confidence in our region the Central Coast. And, CSR's Chairman John Gillam said as mu...

This is a question that many people ask about the Central Coast.  Are we a region, meaning are we a 'country' region, or are we part of Sydney and that means being part of the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area? Logically one would think being 70 minutes from the Sydney CBD would be a good qualifier compared with 90 minutes to Penrith. Well a 2015 Act of Parliament specifically excludes us from the GSMA. The Greater Sydney Commission Act 2015 includes all the Local Governme...

But first.  I have been asked why I continue to pick on the Central Coast Council. I don't. I pick on the Central Coast's Councillors. Council's staff are doing a good job under very difficult circumstances. My point is that regional economies are for the most part controlled at local government level.  The state and federal governments set the macros but it is local government that sets the parameters for economic and social well-being both now and into the future. ...

A report released by the Brotherhood of St Laurence a few months ago on youth unemployment 'hot spots' makes disturbing reading to anyone who has the slightest interest in the future of our region. Youth unemployment rates for NSW's five worst youth unemployment 'hot spots' using 12 month average data to December 2018 by the ABS shows Central Coast rates 4th out of the five worst regions in NSW. At 13.7% the youth unemployment rate for the Central Coast is a dis...

It has seemingly been forever thus. The Central Coast, an hour north of Sydney with a current population of 340,000 which the NSW Planning Department has decreed will grow by another 70,000 in the next 20 years, is always left on the sidelines when it comes to sharing in the state's budgets. Always neglected except at election times when premiers, prime ministers and sundry ministers punch the coordinates into their GPS gadgets and find their way to our region. Like the three w...