Gosford not a ‘cyst’ Latif claims it to be.

Vanessa Handley’s recent article appearing in the Central Coast Sun Weekly [21/08/2008] edition fails to reveal the complete truth behind Sherif Latiif’s claim to ‘Owner deserts CBD’. That headline in itself is a bit dull.

Not long ago we had a headline from the Central Coast Express Advocate proclaiming ‘Nightmare in Mann Street’ and now the Sun Weekly proudly displays ‘Owner deserts CBD’. Her article claims the reason behind Latif’s move was resulting from break-ins and bad behaviour within the Gosford CBD. Did this same newspaper welcome the arrival of Nicole Croker’s Business Environment to Mann Street. Have they seen the growth in Central Coast Eurocars, fast becoming one of Gosford’s major employers. Do they know how many employees are engaged within Centrelink who regularly shop in the CBD?

 Sherif latif runs, or rather ran, Needlecraft Mailbox located in Mann Street. The business is broadly internet based and in the main discourages shopfront activity. His claim elderly customers do not want to go there anymore for safety reasons flies in the face of many elderly visitors to the Gosford CBD especially the ‘golden oldies club’ run by the Imperial Shopping Centre where every week they have a ball in the centre. Seems pretty safe for them. Why not for him? He also claims to be scared late at night. There are no bogey men waiting in dark alleys Mr Latif. You need to go to Sydney for that.

 

 He claims Gosford has a cyst and believes the problem to be the unemployed and drug taking rogues. I think he will find that also exists in Parramatta, where he is headed to. It’s a case of the grass not really being that much greener. And the claimed problem has been on the Gosford Chamber’s radar to fix. Today it is a lot better than twelve months ago or longer.

We searched for some good news stories from Gosford’s media [newspapers] and didn’t see much talking up of the CBD. Not to difficult to find ‘shock stories’ though.

The hard yards put in by Gosford’s shop keepers, real estate agents, etc etc always seem to be undermined by a press hell bent on talking Gosford down. Its really getting a tad tiring. The belief that unless a story is highlighting all the negative issues then its not a good story is so out of date that newspapers running with this philosophy are fast running out of touch with their readership.

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Those involved in Council, Chamber of Commerce and now GBID work tirelessly to improve what some consider a cyst. Well its been lanced, that so called cyst. I just wonder sometimes how far these knockers of Gosford have travelled in their lives. Gosford is a mighty fine place. Yes it needs some fixing but so does Sydney, London, Paris, New York. Let alone Parramatta.

 

 

This article is not newsworthy, and if the Central Coast Sun Weekly is hiding what they really think of the Gosford CBD, behind the veil of Latif, then the intestinal fortitude of the paper is lacking.

Ten from 42

Almost time to vote

With less than a month to go [Sept 13th] before we trot off to elect ten councillors maybe it’s a good time to take stock of those vying for election.

 

With forty two candidates contesting ten positions we see the mainstream parties putting up candidates and four groups of independents. Interestingly Robert Bell has dropped out and Malcolm Brooks is running as an independent, could this be as a Liberal in disguise? Former Liberal and current deputy mayor, Trevor Drake, is also running as an independent after dropping off the Liberal radar with an interesting team of ladies on his ticket, one of which is his daughter Tegan.
Group D, and Terri Latella from the Greens, has survived her first term and fields five candidates on her ticket. She has high hopes of being returned. Will Craig Doyle in Group G, another independent, get up? There are five running with him. Craig claims he has worked hard over his term, and is more commonly known as the ‘road warrior’. The question is, have our roads improved over the past four years? Well to be fair to that question there is a yes and no really.

 Labor’s Jim Mcfadyen has six running with him including Vikki Scott, both seeking to be re-elected. Mcfadyen has been mayor of Gosford and will no doubt wish to continue that role. Group B, Central Coast First, sees six on the ticket including Laurie Maher, Peter Hale, and Michael Goodway.

There are also two other independents, Helen Ryan and Allan Lotfizadeh, running in the race although assumed not to be aligned to any political persuasion.

Liberal Chris Holstein has seven on his ticket! It would seem the Libs are trying to get at least two up, if not three. The currently reported survey shows some dissatisfaction with Premier dilemma and may have an influence on the overall Liberal result in NSW.

The current councillors have signed the Gosford protocol, except Malcolm Brooks, and one wonders if this will carry on into the future. Is it worth the paper it’s printed on?  Word on the street is Gosford still languishes whilst other regions progress. We need four years plus of activity in this city. Get the waterfront up and running, fix up derelict buildings, encourage development and job creation, we need people on council that are prepared to make some hard decisions and get stuff happening, not just in Kibble Park.

Gosford’s plan for Kibble

Kibble Park in the centre of Gosford has been the centre of attention over the years. Now the closing stages of its makeover are out for public comment. Far be it from the Grunt to sway any opinion one way or another there is a need for those who go there to take stock of what is proposed.

Click on the link to see the plan. draftkibbleparkmasterplana31

 

 There is a question surrounding the closure of Eliza Street. Although to the Grunt’s best knowledge this was de-classified as a street by the RTA back in the 70’s. The plan is to close it off and make it simply for parking, with a turning bay at its end. Some think this is not a good idea and should remain as it currently is. Others believe it should be as the proposal shows.

Another question is do you know where Eliza Street is? The current Central Coast UBD street directory shows it even though the RTA recognises it as simply an access road, like the one that serves Adcock park. If the plan is adopted then Eliza Street will be no more! Good thing or bad considering the new plans for Kibble park.