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Council know it is inconvenient for the community to hold just one public meeting on an issue that attacks your neighbourhood.

They know it is inconvenient for you to attend a “public meeting” in the middle of a weekday when so many people are at work.

They know it is inconvenient for you to attend a “public meeting” in the middle of a school holidays when so many are away and cannot attend.

You know it is wrong when bureaucrats claim that by not being able to attend “their meeting” at “their time” that you don’t care.

But if you can somehow manage to get to Erina Fair on Wednesday your family, friends and neighbours will really, really appreciate it.

Date

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Time

12pm to 2pm and 4pm to 6pm

Where

Erina Room, Erina Centre (next to Erina Library at Erina Fair).

Why

Council’s negativity is demonstrated by their feverish attempts to limit community access to their public meetings.

So your attendance can demonstrate the strong, positive commitment in the community to saving our parks and playgrounds.

The shortage of playgrounds

Below is a copy of an email sent to Ian Reynolds, Administrator of the Central Coast Council.

It highlights the ways other council’s mange finances and community needs in this case it is Wagga Council that has three times as many playgrounds per capita as Gosford.

To date Mr Reynolds has not responded.

Dear Mr Reynolds

We thought you might be interested in this innovative approach to parks and playgrounds from Wagga Wagga Council.

Wagga Council used the Award winning “Funbobulator” that allows kids to chose the playground equipment they like up to a particular budget.

Each piece of playground equipment is costed and it warns users if they overspend.

Here is the link to the “Funbobulator” http://funbobulator.budgetallocator.com/#ba

Level of service comparison between Wagga Council and the former Gosford Council

Wagga Council has 91 playgrounds with a population of 55,000 people.

Gosford, by comparison has only 93 playgrounds with a population 3 times higher (165,000 residents) so to match Wagga on a pro-rata rate we need a further 180 playgrounds to meet the needs of the Gosford area!

And though Wagga Council has only one third the ratepayers, the local government area they manage is five times greater than Gosford yet Wagga Council are managing to fund and create new playgrounds.

The future for Central Coast Council

Mr Reynolds, as you can see, there is a shortage of parks and playgrounds in the former Gosford Council area and we are hoping you will respond positively to address this need in partnership with the community.

We all need to work together to create an innovative and responsive Central Coast Council so we can have an additional 180 playgrounds to match the population per playground rate of smaller regional councils like Wagga.

Thank you for your time and we look forward to a positive response from Council.