Water & environment · Central Coast Council
Central Coast lagoon plan may include face-to-face community consultations
The Environment & Planning Committee has recommended that Council consider in-person consultations during exhibition of the Draft Central Coast Lagoons Coastal Management Program, but has not committed to holding them.
Reporting from public council minutes. How this article was prepared
Residents may be offered face-to-face consultations on the Draft Central Coast Lagoons Coastal Management Program, after Central Coast Council’s Environment & Planning Committee recommended that Council consider in-person sessions during the program’s exhibition.
The recommendation came from the Coastal, Estuary and Floodplain Risk Management Subcommittee and was adopted by the committee at its 3 November 2026 meeting. The recorded resolution does not approve a consultation schedule or specify where, when or how many sessions might be held.
The wording leaves the arrangements to be considered as part of the future exhibition process. It does not establish that face-to-face sessions will occur.
The motion was carried with seven committee members recorded in favour and none against. They were Chairperson Doug Eaton, Sharon Walsh, Margot Castles, Jane Smith, John Mouland, Deputy Mayor Rachel Stanton and Mayor John McNamara.
Any opportunity for residents to provide input in person will depend on the exhibition arrangements and any later Council action. The minutes do not state when the draft program will be exhibited.
What deserves a closer look
The adopted recommendation asks Council to consider face-to-face consultations as part of the exhibition process, rather than approving a consultation schedule.
The minutes do not provide an exhibition date or practical details for any in-person sessions.
Questions for follow-up reporting
Will Council include face-to-face sessions in the exhibition arrangements?
When will the Draft Central Coast Lagoons Coastal Management Program be exhibited?
Where and how many in-person sessions would be offered if Council proceeds?
Check the record
These passages were matched to the source text. Read them in context in the original minutes.
The committee adopted a subcommittee recommendation that Council consider face-to-face community consultations during exhibition of the Draft Central Coast Lagoons Coastal Management Program.
1. Receives and notes the minutes and recommendations of the Coastal, Estuary and Floodplain Risk Management Subcommittee meeting held on 29 September 2026. 2. Adopts the recommendation of the Coastal, Estuary and Floodplain Risk Management Subcommittee in the below resolution: CEFRM-26/26 That the Committee recommends that Council considers face to face community consultations as part of the Draft Central Coast Lagoons Coastal Management Program exhibition process.
Item 3.1, adoption of subcommittee recommendation CEFRM-26/26
Open original minutes ↗The motion was recorded as carried with seven named committee members in favour and no votes against.
CARRIED FOR: Cr Eaton OAM, Cr Walsh, Cr Castles, Cr Smith, Cr Mouland, Deputy Mayor Stanton and Mayor McNamara AGAINST: Nil 4 REPORTS 4.1 State Community Participation Plan - for Information 6:20pm A MOTION was MOVED by Cr Castles and SECONDED by Cr Walsh: EPC-26/263 That the Committee recommends that Council: a.
Item 3.1 vote, before the heading for reports
Open original minutes ↗The Environment & Planning Committee meeting was held on 3 November 2026.
OFFICIAL Central Coast Council MINUTES of the Environment & Planning Committee Meeting held in Function Room 2 2 Hely Street, Wyong Tuesday 3 November 2026 Members Status Cr Doug Eaton OAM, Chairperson Present Cr Sharon Walsh, Deputy Chairperson Present (remotely) Mayor John McNamara, Member Present Cr Margot Castles, Member Present (remotely) Cr John Mouland, Member Present Cr Jane Smith, Member Present (remotely) Deputy Mayor Rachel Stanton, Member Present (remotely) Councillor Guests Status Cr Helen Crowley Present Cr Belinda Neal Present (remotely) Council Officers Status Luke Nicholls, Director Environment and Planning Present Shannon Turkington,
Meeting heading
Open original minutes ↗Source record
This article reports from the supplied minutes of Central Coast Council’s Environment & Planning Committee meeting on 3 November 2026. The supplied record does not establish whether these minutes have been confirmed.
Key facts from the minutes
- The Environment & Planning Committee met on 3 November 2026.
- The committee adopted the subcommittee recommendation that Council consider face-to-face consultation during exhibition of the Draft Central Coast Lagoons Coastal Management Program.
- The resolution was a recommendation to Council, not a final Council decision approving consultation sessions.
- The minutes do not specify consultation locations, dates, numbers of sessions or an exhibition timetable.
- The motion was recorded as carried, with seven named committee members in favour and no votes against.
Why it matters
- Residents affected by lagoon and coastal management proposals may receive an opportunity to provide input in person, but the committee recommendation does not commit Council to holding face-to-face sessions.