Central Coast Council has developed the first region-wide draft Land Transaction Policy and place it on public exhibition for the community to view and submit comments.
The draft Land Transaction Policy is a consolidation of the former Gosford City Council's Land and Property Transactions Policy and Wyong Shire Council's Property Transactions - Sales and Acquisitions, with other policies informing its development.
The consolidated policy provides a framework for Council to inform decision and directions regarding Council’s property portfolio in a consistent manner across the Local Government Area and in accordance with relevant legislation.
To find out more about the draft Land Transaction Policy, you are invited to:
- View the draft Land Transaction Policy
- View the Frequently Asked Questions available below
Submissions and feedback were accepted until 11 September 2020.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The former Wyong Shire Council and the former Gosford City Council both had similar Land and Property transaction policies. This draft policy allows for both former policies to be brought together and remove any areas that were unclear or contradictory. The draft policy also allowed an opportunity to update policy guidelines to current best property and land management practices.
The process to sell Council owned land is very complicated and is something that is only considered after many checks and balances have been undertaken. Firstly, only operational land can be sold, so community parks and facilities (community land) can’t be sold unless the land can be reclassified. Any reclassification requires thorough community consultation as well as State Government approval – and Council would need to demonstrate that the reclassification would not reduce the community’s access to open space or recreational land. All these decisions require resolution at Council’s meeting, which requires the elected Councillor’s support.
Other policies which were also reviewed, and elements incorporated into the Land Transaction Policy, were the:
- Acceptance of Care, Control & Management of Public lands acquired by other Authorities Policy (former Gosford City Council). This policy detailed the circumstances under which former Gosford Council will accept care, control and management of land for public purposes
- Easements/Leases/Licences – Utilities, Authorities and Companies Policy (former Gosford City Council). This policy was to assess the payment of compensation for easements granted to utilities, authorities and companies.
The consolidated Central Coast Land Transaction Policy will replace these 4 policies.