The Central Coast

The Central Coast is an urban region in New South Wales, located on the coast approximately 1 hour north of Sydney.

We have an estimated population of 327,736 from the 2016 Census.

We are presently politically administered as two local government areas, City of Gosford and Wyong Shire.

History

Aboriginal people have inhabited our region for thousands of years. The local Guringai and Darkinjung tribes were some of the first Aboriginal people to come in contact with British settlers.

An Aboriginal man from the region named Bungaree became one of the most prominent people of the early settlement of New South Wales. He was one of the first Aboriginal people to learn English and befriended the early governors Phillip, King and Macquarie. Macquarie later declared Bungaree "The King of the Broken Bay Tribes". Post settlement disease and disruption greatly reduced the numbers of Aboriginal people.

Geography

The region is a network of towns that have been linked in recent years by expanding suburban development. The main urban cluster of the region surrounds the northern shore of Brisbane Water and includes the Coast's largest population centre, Gosford, stretching east to the retail centre of Erina.

Other major commercial "centres" on the Coast are Wyong, Tuggerah, Lakehaven, The Entrance, Terrigal, and Woy Woy. Large numbers of people who live in the southern part of the region commute daily to work in Sydney. The Central Coast is also a popular tourist destination and a popular area for retirement.

The Central Coast has significant employment including services, tourism, manufacturing, finance, building, retail and industrial. As a result, the cultural identity of the region is distinct from that of the large and diverse metropolis of Sydney as well as from the Hunter region with its mining, heavy industry and port. On 2 December 2005, the Central Coast was officially recognised as a stand-alone region rather than an extension of Sydney or the Hunter Valley.

Getting here

From Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, trains run regularly from the International and Domestic stations, to Central Railway Station, where you can catch an inter- urban train from platform #9 to the Central Coast. There are many stations, the main ones are, Woy Woy, Gosford and Wyong.

Getting here by car can be done by travelling up the M1 motorway from Sydney to any one of the many turn offs to Woy Woy, Gosford, Ourimbah, Tuggerah/Wyong and beyond.

Education

The Central Coast has a campus of the University of Newcastle located at Ourimbah. There are three other campuses of the Hunter Institute of TAFE located at Gosford, Wyong and Ourimbah.

We also have a large number of primary and secondary school institutions.

Theatre

The area has two operating theatres. Laycock Street Theatre, located in North Gosford, which has a proscenium arch configuration and seats 392 patrons. The venue also contains a multi-purpose space suitable for conferences, board meetings, annual general meetings, cabaret and small musical acts. The resident amateur theatre group, the Gosford Musical Society, currently contribute 5 shows a year.

The Peninsula Theatre is positioned in Woy Woy just south of Gosford. This theatre's configuration is a somewhat unusual 124 seat Amphitheatre. The resident amateur theatre group is the Woy Woy Little Theatre Company, currently supplying a season of 4 shows per year.

Sport

The Central Coast Stadium in Gosford, New South Wales, is the current home of the Central Coast Mariners soccer club.

Many other sports are played her including Rugby League, Rugby Union, Australian Rules, Ice Hockey, Basket Ball, as well as Netball. There are a large number of water activity and surf life saving clubs also in the area.