Community comments regarding the draft Greater Warnervale Structure plan were collected for a period of 60 days, between Monday 30 January and 31 March 2023.

The community were encouraged to have their say in the following ways:

• Viewing the draft Greater Warnervale Structure plan document
• Providing your comments via the submission form (now closed)
• Exploring and commenting on the interactive map (closed for comment)
• Attending a drop-in session at Lake Haven Library
  • Session 1: 10am-12pm Thursday 23 February 2023
  • Session 2: 1pm-3pm Wednesday 1 March 2023

Comments closed at 5pm on 31 March 2023.

Please contact engageme@centralcoast.nsw.gov.au if you require assistance in using the available technology to complete your submission.

Community feedback collected during the public exhibition for the draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan will be considered in a final report before Council.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan forms the basis for future planning, which will lead to the formulation of new planning controls, such as amendments to Council’s Environmental Planning Instruments, and/or the preparation of Development Control Plan chapters, character statements, Public Domain Plans, and development contributions plans.

This means that the structure plan will set the foundation for the development or amendment of further plans which have the ability to shape the future of Greater Wanervale.

On 11 April 2022, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) formally advised Central Coast Council of the intent to withdraw the Development Application for the proposed North Warnervale Railway Station. In addition, the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041 has recently been released by the Department of Planning & Environment, and this plan does not include the proposed North Warnervale Railway Station.

To address this change, the draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan reduces the status of the proposed Warnervale Town Centre and identifies two new Neighbourhood Centres at Warnervale (one near Warnies General Store and Café, and one located adjacent to Albert Warner Drive adjacent to the future Link Road connection to Wyong). These centres, along with the proposed Town Centre Precinct, will support the existing network of commercial centres.

Central Coast Council will also advocate for public transport improvements within the Greater Warnervale Study Area, with TfNSW.

Council encourages community members and stakeholders who have a view on this topic to include it in a submission to the Structure Plan during the exhibition period.

A draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan has been prepared that:

• Facilitates growth within the study area for the short, medium and long term – ensuring the orderly development of land.
• Provides greater certainty to land owners, the community, and industry groups with regard to land use options.
• Enhances quality of life for existing and future residents by identifying opportunities for improvements to the recreation network, including location of playgrounds, sportsgrounds and shared pathways.
• Promotes the natural features of the study area, including waterfront areas, public reserves and wildlife linkages.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan builds upon the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041, providing more detail around the future development of the study area.

Structure Plan

A structure plan sets the future land use structure for a precinct. It provides more detail than the Local Strategic Planning Statement. It identifies the preferred urban structure for a precinct. A Structure Plan makes recommendations about:

• Residential land provision, densities and location – including new release areas and recommending higher densities in existing areas
• Employment land provision and location - including commercial town centres and other retail centres, and industrial uses
• Transport networks – including proposed upgrades to existing transport networks and recommending new transport connections
• Public transport – New or upgraded public transport facilities such as bus interchanges or bus shelters
• Pedestrian/cyclist connections – Major shared pathway networks
• Open space and community facilities – Land to be set aside for new or upgraded facilities
• Civic and governance uses – Land to be set aside for civic and governance uses, such as schools
• Areas of significant environmental, heritage or scenic value that should be conserved for future generations
• Infrastructure provision – Consideration of available services

A Structure Plan will provide illustrative layouts of future land use structure but will generally leave development concepts until Masterplan stage. This is a moderately detailed plan, for example providing recommendations for location of public facilities, but not going into detail about specific format of facilities or the material with which such facilities should be constructed.

Masterplan

A Masterplan provides guidance for potential development of a particular area within a precinct. It provides more detail than the Precinct Structure Plan. Most often applying to commercial/retail centres, a Masterplan identifies:

• Relationships of buildings – Building bulk and heights, connectivity, view sharing, solar access
• Public transport – New or upgraded public transport facilities such as bus interchanges or bus shelters
• Vehicular circulation – New or upgraded roads, intersections, footpaths
• Car parking – New or upgraded car parking required
• Pedestrian/cyclist connections – New or upgraded facilities
• Open space and community facilities – New or upgraded facilities
• Residential densities – Such as recommending higher densities in existing areas or suitable locations for mixed-use developments
• Economic prosperity – Improvements that will foster economic success of a commercial/retail area

A Masterplan will provide development concepts and illustrations. This is a highly detailed plan, for example providing recommendations for specific public facilities such as a public boardwalk, but not going into detail about the material with which such facilities should be constructed.

Public Domain Plan

Establishes design direction and general criteria to apply to design of the public space network. A Public Domain Plan will provide illustrations of street furniture, materials to be used in public domain such as paving, street plantings and planter boxes and so on. This is a very highly detailed plan, for example working towards implementation of public facilities recommended within a Masterplan, including selection of landscaping, paving and street furniture.

The North Wyong Shire Structure Plan (NWSSP) (now repealed and replaced by the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041) identified a large area of land within Greater Warnervale for long-term greenfield residential and employment land release. The Greater Warnervale study area (Figure 1) has been selected in order to ensure that the draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan resolves future land uses in this section of the NWSSP study area. Therefore, the development precincts identified within the NWSSP for future employment and residential land use are included in the study area, as well as the area identified as a future biodiversity corridor.

Figure 1: Study Area

Council recognises the importance of developing a vision for the future development of Greater Warnervale, to ensure that development occurs in an orderly and desirable manner. A detailed draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan has therefore been prepared in order to ensure development occurs in a manner that is responsible to future generations and the natural environment.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan identifies the long-term vision and principles that will guide land use planning in the area. It is intended to enable Greater Warnervale to grow in a sustainable way, by allowing for future growth to occur in a manner that does not compromise the attributes that make the area a desirable place to live.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan identifies the approximate location for new roads as part of the development of new residential or employment lands. These roads are subject to further investigation at rezoning stage and would be funded by the developer or through contributions at the time of subdivision construction

Identification of road improvements such as kerb and guttering is outside the scope of the draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan. These works are considered in Council’s Capital Works Program, which is placed on exhibition around April each year.

Reporting potholes and road damage
Whilst Council proactively inspects the road pavement to identify any damage, we encourage our residents and visitors to report any potholes and other safety concerns to Council. These can be easily and quickly lodged at any time through Council’s online Customer Service Centre or by calling Customer Service during business hours on 4306 7900.

Transport for NSW has advised Council that the North Warnervale Train Station is no longer proposed. Council invites feedback from the community on this decision as part of the exhibition of the Structure Plan.

Council works closely with TfNSW to advocate for public transport improvements across the Central Coast and will continue to do so. TfNSW will shortly release a Transport Plan for the Central Coast which will provide further opportunities for input and feedback. Council has also consulted with Busways in relation to bus servicing for this area. Further consultation will take place during the public exhibition process.

Absolutely. Ensuring the protection and future success of our regional biodiversity corridor as well as our local biodiversity corridors is a very important component of this draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan.

The indicative location of proposed biodiversity corridors is identified within the draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan. Development Applications relating to land within this biodiversity corridor will need to demonstrate how the environmental attributes of the site will be retained and improved, and how legible biodiversity connections will be implemented.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan identifies additional land for future investigation for commercial uses, at Warnervale Business Park (Albert Warner Drive, Warnervale). The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan reduces the amount of commercial land at the proposed Warnervale Town Centre, in line with the recent adoption of the Central Coast Regional Plan 2041, which removes the proposed railway station from future State Government plans for the area. This will result in a necessary reduction in scale of the commercial centre, and this is reflected in the Structure Plan.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan also identifies additional land for future investigation for employment uses, at Charmhaven, Wallarah, Halloran and Warnervale.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan recommends the following additional recreation facilities:

• Aquatic Recreation Centre
• Delivery of a new sportsground to service the southern end of the study area.
• Upgrade/expand Woongarrah Sporting Facility
• Upgrade/expand Warnervale Oval
• Upgrade/expand Wadalba Sports Complex to serve as a district multi-use facility.
• Embellishment of the basketball and tennis courts at Wadalba Sports Facility.
• A new regional playspace at the proposed Woongarrah Neighbourhood Centre.

These proposals are included in the Warnervale Contributions Plan to secure long-term funding towards this important infrastructure.

The draft Greater Warnervale Structure Plan recommends the following additional community facilities:

• Warnervale Community Hub (District)
• Wadalba Community Centre.

These proposals are included in the Warnervale Contributions Plan to secure long-term funding towards this important infrastructure.