The power of Ten

No, it has nothing to do with ten councillors. If you want people to come in to the city centre, you’ll have to give them a reason. There’s a theory in ‘placemaking’ that to make a place worth visiting there must be ten things to do in that place, and a destination needs ten places in it.

Brisbane Water Jetty; copyright Val Bridge

If we take the Central Coast as an example to this theory then Gosford is one of the ten places in the region. This in turn leads to ten places in the city to encourage people to visit. We already have a few but could we make them more accessible?

Here is an extract from the Projects for Public Spaces web site.

“Underlying all PPS’s work is the “Power of 10″ the idea that at least ten focal points are necessary to make a great place, with each of those areas offering ten things to do. Public spaces exhibiting the power of ten offers depth, meaning, and intuitive connections that create satisfying everyday experiences.”

Colleen Worthy-Jennings said that the Gosford city revitalisation team are using this theory. So how does Gosford stack up against this power of ten?

Can you make a list of ten things you’d like to do in Gosford? Who does your list appeal to, families, shoppers, singles, business visitors, day trippers, holidaymakers? No this is not a survey! Simply to see if you have a view.

Today many people eat their lunch in Kibble Park with friends and listen to music. Meet friends, eat lunch in the park, and listen to music, that’s three things.

If you were to list ten things Erina offers to attract visitors how does it compare to Gosford. We are not suggesting it compete with Erina Fair on a retail level, but we sure offer much in the way of potential.

For starters we could do with a purpose built civic centre, perhaps a cinema. We used to have a roller skating rink, kids and families loved that! The waterfront is our jewel and provided it is developed with thought it could be our own ‘darling harbour’. However, it must be for the people, not just for those who can afford some luxury apartment overlooking the Brisbane Water.

Newcastle has done it with their waterfront; Wollongong too, has developed with thought. Gosford on the other hand appears to be the poor cousin. Why?

Pokies under threat from Family First

 

 

Thing of the past?

The Australian pub industry and registered clubs are in a state of deep panic over two bills which were recently introduced in the Senate by Senator Steve Fielding of Family First.

When Fielding introduced the Poker Machine Harm Reduction Tax (Administration) Bill on February 14 and the Poker Machine Harm Minimisation Bill on June 19, they passed under the radar of the media and the liquor and gaming industries.

But Fielding’s motives turned clearer with a Sky TV interview in which he said his aim was to banish all pokies from Australia’s pubs and clubs in 10 years. In future, he said, pokies should be restricted to dedicated gambling venues such as casinos and race tracks. Now the liquor industries have fine tooth-combed the two bills and found to their horror that the Fielding plan spells financial doom for pubs and clubs and revenue disaster for state governments which have become dependent on the gaming tax dollar.

Here are just some of the proposals in Fielding’s poker machine harm minimization legislation:

Poker machines to be re-engineered to accept a maximum $20 note bet. NSW machines currently accept $100 notes. Poker machines to be modified to accept no more than $100 of credit at a time. NSW machines currently allowed up to $10,000 at a time. Poker machines in future to have no more than one pay line. Current machines have up to 25 pay lines. Poker machines to allow a maximum of a $1 bet per spin. In NSW the current max bet is $10 per spin.

Senator Steve Fielding; Family First party

The maximum jackpot to be limited to $1,000. The current maximum in NSW is $10,000. Future machines to be adjusted to have a spin rate of five seconds. NSW machines currently have a faster 3.5 second spin rate. ATMs in pubs and clubs to pay out a maximum $100 per cardholder per day.

To put these measures into some kind of perspective, consider this:

If the bet is reduced from $10 to $1 (a 90 per cent reduction), the game spin is slowed from 3.5 seconds to 5 seconds (a 30 per cent reduction), the amount that can be fed into a poker machine reduced from $10,000 to $100 at a time (a 99 per cent reduction) and note acceptors reduced from $100 to $20 (an 80 per cent reduction), these combined measures would reduce gambling revenue by half.

In the 2006-2007 financial year, the NSW Government received $1.1 billion from poker machine tax. This would be halved. In his harm minimization tax legislation, Fielding proposes a new Commonwealth tax on gross gaming revenue in 2009 of 1 per cent, growing to 4 per cent in 2012, 10 per cent in 2015 and then 5 per cent per year until it reaches a maximum of 30 per cent.

A spokesman for the NSW liquor and gaming industry has said Fielding’s taxation schedule and his plans to modify poker machines would lay waste to pubs and clubs and wipe many of them out of existence. Each year Australians put more than $7 billion of their hard-earned into pokies in pubs and clubs, a figure which is a national scandal. While every right-thinking individual wants an end to Australia’s pokie dependency, Fielding’s plan is shallow populism.

Let’s see what Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull can do about it.

Comments welcome.

The trials and tribulations; Gosford Election

A smiling Terri Latella

 Well that’s it for another four years! What you voted for is what you might get and one wonders how many people went below the line to cast their vote. Judging by the results, not many.

Independents in this race, Helen Ryan and Allan Lotfizadeh, are at a distinct disadvantage and have a difficult job persuading voters to look beyond the group vote and mark off their choices below the line. However, they should be encouraged by the votes received.

With the state ALP in turmoil it was always going to be a difficult task for the six on Macfadyen’s team to put that behind them. Attracting 17.6% of the vote saw a 1.6% swing against them. Not a crisis but still significant bearing in mind the 2004 election results.

On the other hand the Holstein team cleaned up! Gaining over 35% of the vote saw a positive swing of more than 17% in their favour. The Liberals here could get three maybe four in to council from the seven on their ticket. Would it be good for Gosford to have a weighted Liberal team on council?

Onward to the next State election, Marie Andrews will probably retire and the ALP has yet to put a serious contender in place. The Grunt’s guess is Holstein may well put his hand up once again for state politics.

Central Coast First saw a swing of over 8% against them attracting just 12% of the vote. This party will have to do a lot better if they are to become a force on the coast. With six on the ticket they could only manage 7900 odd votes.

The Greens are the surprise gaining a swing of 8.1% and attracting more than 11,500 votes putting them way ahead of Central Coast First and third in overall results. Candidate Terri Latella seeking her second term as a Gosford councillor can hold her head high with this outcome. Her previous deputy mayor attempt, only to be foiled by Trevor Drake, should be given another go. There is a view on how she would be a valuable asset.

Craig Doyle’s group trounced the Brooks group by some 2000 odd votes and could return Craig Doyle to council. The final makeup of council is yet to be finalised.

However, we should see three from the Liberal Party, two from the ALP, and one from the Greens elected, which leaves four remaining positions to be decided from the following; Central Coast First, the Doyle and Brooks camp, an outside chance of a second Green party member as well as maybe one from the Trevor Drake ticket. It is still possible that a fourth Liberal might get up.

There are a few combinations and we just have to wait for the electoral commission’s final round up check out the final standings here..

Related articles;
A summary of results [Electoral Commission] clik on election night tab and download the spreadsheet for booths.
View 2004 local election results.
The view of Anthony Green, ABC’s election specialist.

Comments welcome.

A gleaming Gosford

Good management, it is said, comprises 90% thinking and 10% doing. That’s ok if you have sufficient staff to do the 90% when you are busy thinking the 10%! Another example of good management is anticipating problems before arriving thus putting plans into place to overcome or eliminate those same problems before a crisis hits you square between the eyes.

Which strangely enough leads us to Gosford.  

There is an initiative set in place to occur on the 27^th September. By this date spring will certainly have sprung and many businesses will be shaking off the winter blues and considering spring cleaning in their ‘modus operandi’.  

Can anyone remember within the past decade, if not longer, where the good citizens of Gosford got together and decided it is no longer viable to wait for council, or anyone else for that matter, and got busy to clean up the place? You know a bit of paint here, a scrubbed wall there sort of thing. Amazingly the collective, isn’t that a communist term, are getting together through the lead of the GBID to get some action going.

This is particularly encouraging when people owning or running a business actually feel they want to be part of a collective and help each other out. Giving Gosford City a spring clean will surely bring a smile to the faces of people working and visiting the CBD. Of course there will be that small group of proverbial Gosford knockers out there.

I for one can’t wait to grab a shot of Deborah Lowndes scrubbing the steps of some grubby building in Mann Street with a hairnet on; or Deborah Warwick polishing the benches at the bus stop outside the Imperial Shopping Centre in her apron!  

Of the clean up Deborah Lowndes said, ““This is a stimulating initiative that will see teams of people cleaning, painting, removing graffiti, and planting to beautify the streets of the city”. “Expressions of interest are currently being sought for volunteers to help, and we welcome members of the community who can spare their time to assist the GBID revitalise Gosford City”.

Now tell me, who would you really like to see volunteering with a bucket and mop in hand? What job would you give Chris Holstein or mayor Jim Macfadyen?  Even better, what would you like to see happen to that ‘wonder building’ gracing the south side corner of Donnison and Mann Street?

Just to get you started we might ask member for Robertson, Belinda Neal, to clean the windows of an office opposite hers. You know the one, it still has a sign with Chris Hartcher on it. Isn’t he now in Terrigal? How about the Green s councillor, Terri Latella, we could get her to pull up some weeds!! Craig Doyle might like to fill up a few of the pot holes that sink falcons around our roads. Get grunting.

Will it be Holstein? answer the final q

 

Gosford City Council Building

Saturday [13^th September] we get to vote for whomever we feel best represents us at a local government level, our councillors.  A previous post [Ten from 42] gave an insight to what some candidate’s policies are about.

 

They’ve had five years in office and what has been achieved as far as a positive outcome for business activity in Gosford’s CBD is concerned? Sort of hard to answer that! Perhaps we can think about the four years prior to the past five; well not a lot happened then either! So for nine years all we have seen is a Kibble nibble.

 

 

 

 

Sure there were some who tried to get things moving but usually got outvoted on party political lines. In this time Wyong got Magenta Shores and now Kooinda Waters.

Even the roads seem smoother in Wyong.

Judging by the ballot paper not much is anticipated to change for the next four years in Gosford Council. True independents cannot get over the line and most voters simply don’t tick boxes under the line, making their election aspirations harder, so we get down to wondering where their preferences will go. Back in 2003 we lost the Spurbest project. That is five years ago. Had it ploughed ahead one wonders how the CBD would look and feel today. I guess to be fair we got 80 Mann Street, but so far there are only a handful of residents occupying it. The very reason we created a GBID is because it has business representation to push Gosford Council and the State Government to ‘get Gosford moving into the 21^st century’. It would be great to see a crane or two!

We could have some side bets here as to whom gets elected. We need ten elected councillors. The Grunt’s bet will be…… Holstein, Macfadyen, Scott, Latella, Maher, Brooks, Burke, Hale, Doyle, Munnings.  Hmmmm… not much different than now is it?

Check out the ballot paper and see if you can forecast who gets elected. Remember one thing, Gosford can only move ahead when the right people who want to make it happen, do so. Who was it that said the more things change the more they stay the same?

BTW; who will be mayor? get Grunting.