Joint Media Statement: Work underway on innovative parking solution for Central Coast CBDs

Work is starting on the installation of 450 ‘smart parking’ sensors that will help ensure Central Coast residents and visitors spend less time stuck in traffic.

Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher said the project would see the installation of 250 parking sensors in the Terrigal CBD and 200 sensors in the Gosford CBD, allowing drivers to link to available parking information via apps.

“This project is designed to solve the perennial problem of finding a parking spot – it’s a great example of how the Turnbull Government’s $50 million Smart Cities and Suburbs Program is helping to make our cities and regional areas more liveable,” Mr Fletcher said.

“The Smart Cities and Suburbs Program supports exactly this type of clever solution to local problems, with the ultimate goal of spreading good ideas to other cities, suburbs and regions.

“This particular initiative is big news for the local area as it will help reduce heavy traffic congestion in the heart of Terrigal and Gosford.”

Federal Member for Robertson Lucy Wicks said up to 30 per cent of traffic congestion in the business centres of the Central Coast was due to people looking for free parking spaces – a problem the smart parking initiative would soon address.

“Central Coast residents park around train stations before commuting to Sydney or Newcastle in their thousands every day, making finding a parking space at Gosford and other centres problematic, but we are now partnering with Council to help resolve these long-standing issues,” Mrs Wicks said.

“I have heard from the community about the struggle for car parking in Gosford and Terrigal and that’s why I am delighted to see work starting for locals across the Central Coast as it will help reduce heavy traffic congestion in the heart of our business centres.

“As well as reducing congestion, this project will help reduce air pollution, improve road safety and boost ease of access to local businesses for potential customers.”

Central Coast Mayor Jane Smith said adequate and available parking was key to activating town centres.

“We believe these innovative parking sensors will go a long way to alleviating the frustration of finding a parking spot,” Cr Smith said. 

“Earlier this year, we talked to the Terrigal community about the benefits of these sensors as part of Let’s talk Terrigal and we will shortly be engaging in a similar way with consumers of parking in Gosford as part of developing the Gosford short term parking strategy.

“Similar sensors are already working well at The Entrance and thanks to this funding, visitors to Gosford and Terrigal will benefit too by getting real-time information about the availability of parking via an app which will identify available parking spots.

“We welcome the Australian Government’s investment in this initiative, which will help us make a real difference to the lives of local residents in terms of saving time, reducing frustration and minimising town-centre congestion.”

The project is one of 49 under Round 1 of the Australian Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Program - forty per cent of successful Round 1 projects are located in regional areas like the Central Coast.

More information is available at https://cities.infrastructure.gov.au/smart-cities-program.

The Turnbull Government has committed $104,735 to the project while the Central Coast Council and Reino International Pty Ltd will together contribute $150,812.