Gosford City Council has expressed its concern at conclusions made last month by the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) regarding their preferred option for the proposed upgrade of the Central Coast Highway / Brisbane Water Drive / Manns Road intersection at West Gosford.

Whilst the RTA advised that the favoured choice for the upgrade of the popular West Gosford intersection was the ground level (at-grade) option, Council is concerned about the use of its Development Control Plan (DCP) 159 Character in which the RTA have used as an argument against the flyover alternative, but not with the at-grade option.

Mayor of Gosford City, Clr Chris Holstein, says that the RTA has raised 'character' as an issue in the consideration and design of the flyover, but was not previously discussed in regards to the at-grade option.

"It is Council's view that character is being used selectively by the RTA to help justify their preferred option", said Clr Holstein.

In an assessment of a development application (such as the proposed upgrade of the Central Coast Highway / Brisbane Water Drive / Manns Road intersection), a weighting is given to the matters for consideration under section 79C of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 relating to their relative level of importance.

'Character' is only one matter to be considered in the determination of a development application and in this instance, should not be seen as having a weighting that determines whether a particular option proceeds.

Although 'character' should still be an aspect in the consideration and design of options, other matters such as economic benefits and traffic flow improvements should have a higher weighting.