Various road works are underway this week, with crews filling potholes (as the first level of maintenance to keep the road safe in the short term), through to longer term works such as heavy patching and road rehabilitation.

With the return of elected councillors in September 2024, Central Coast Council continues to track well financially, and also in the progress and delivery of budgeted capital works – ensuring the business is in a strong position for the new Council.After paying down one of the emergency loans in December 2023, Council has now commenced setting aside funds, $1.4M each month, to enable the final pay down of the remaining emergency loan in November 2025. Council CEO David Farmer said the extinguishment of these emergency loans is a great achievement and that moving forward it will mean more funds to allocate towards community services and projects.“It has not only been the money that has had to be put aside every month towards paying down these loans, but also the interest that has had to be paid on the loans, which has been a burden on Council for the last several years.”Other points in the Q2 Business Report review presented at the February Council meeting, include a projected increase in budgeted operating income of $5.9M, and an operational expenditure projected to increase by $3.2M.Mr Farmer said based on these proposed budget changes, Council projects a modest operating surplus for the year ending 30 June 2024. He added the projected capital income from developer contributions is being reduced, whilst projected income from grants has been increased by $8.7M to align with approved funding agreements.An increase in capital expenditure of $38.3M has been included mainly relating to the receipt of unbudgeted grants.“Overall, the Q2 Report is very good, and we are getting on with delivering projects and services in a very timely and financially prudent manner.“This was evidenced in January in our Capital Works quarterly update, that Council is tracking at 100% to budget.“Current major projects include the new Gosford Regional Library, the Mardi Dam Water Treatment major upgrade and the Hue Hue Road pavement upgrade.”Council Administrator Rik Hart said he is very pleased with the results reported in the Q2 Review and said the community should have confidence in how things are tracking."The fact that we are on track to achieve another modest surplus and our capital works program is also on track, I think means the community can be confident in how Council is functioning."For all information on the progress of Council’s capital works projects visit: https://www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/council/about-council/current-works-and-projects/capital-works-program

Central Coast Council is taking the next steps in the reclassification of 10 Council owned  properties  from community land to operational land.The sites to be reclassified were reviewed by Council in 2023 and the choice of 

With the end of the busy summer holiday period, and the departure of migratory Little Terns from the Karangi sand spit, Central Coast Council will commence the next stage of works this month at The Entrance channel to ensure it is in an appropriate ‘flood ready’ state, by establishing a pilot channel.Council currently monitors the channel condition in real time (via remote cameras, satellite imagery and gauges, that monitor tidal range within the estuary) and forecasts catchment inflows and lake heights.

Wyong’s Love Lanes Festival is back this Saturday 10 February 2024 with the historic laneways of Wyong set to come to life! From 4pm-9pm Wyong’s laneways, town park and streets will be packed with entertainment and offerings from our local businesses and much-loved organisations;

Access to Council’s payment channel is now available and customers can safely transact with Council again through this payment method over the phone or online via Council’s website.This follows advice from external cyber security experts that it is safe for the payment channel to reopen.

In relation to the suspicious activity identified in Council’s payment system late yesterday afternoon, Council understands that a criminal cyber attack has occurred, involving the generation of random card numbers that were then tested for authenticity by making small payments to Council.

🚘 WEEKLY ROAD WORKS UPDATE Each week, we have road work underway across the Coast to deliver improvements and maintenance works.

Return to school got you feeling like this Great Barred Frog?

I was delighted to attend the 2024 Australia Day Awards ceremony last week, where an outstanding group of Central Coast citizens were awarded for their incredible contributions to the community. These annual awards are a way for Council and the wider community to celebrate and recognise individuals and organisations who have positively impacted the community. Our 2024 ‘Citizen of the Year’ was 18-year-old Matthew Blakemore, who was awarded for his advocacy and awareness-raising about the needs of young people with a disability.