Central Coast Council Moves to Fix Duplicate Image Problem Plaguing Its Digital Records This Week

Central Coast Council confirmed this week it is actively working through a backlog of duplicate and incorrectly attached images inside its public-facing digital planning and property records system, after staff identified the problem had grown significantly during a scheduled data migration completed in late June 2026. The issue affects suburb profile pages, development application files and heritage register entries across the local government area.

The timing matters. Council has spent the past three years clawing its way back from financial administration, and its credibility with residents depends heavily on whether its digital infrastructure can be trusted — particularly as Gosford CBD renewal projects move through the development application pipeline and community scrutiny is high. Inaccurate or duplicated images attached to DA files create confusion about which site, which streetscape and which proposal is actually under assessment.

What Went Wrong and Where It Showed Up

The duplication problem traces back to a data migration the council's IT and records team ran across the last week of June, moving legacy files into a consolidated content management system. According to council's published service update on its website dated July 2, the migration pulled in image assets that had been stored in multiple legacy folders, resulting in some records displaying the same photograph two or three times, while others had images swapped entirely between unrelated properties.

Affected records include DA files for properties along Mann Street in Gosford, heritage register entries for sites in the Terrigal Beach precinct, and suburb overview pages for areas including Woy Woy, Erina and Tuggerah. The council's open data portal, which feeds into the NSW Planning Portal, was also temporarily showing mismatched aerial photography for several parcels in the Wyong corridor — an area where a cluster of medium-density housing proposals are currently lodged.

Council has not specified how many individual records were affected, but the service update noted that image audit and replacement work would be prioritised across planning and property records before any others. Staff are working through a triage list, starting with active DAs that have a public exhibition period closing before July 18, 2026.

Why This Week's Fix Matters for Residents and Applicants

For anyone with a live DA on the system — or anyone submitting an objection to a neighbour's application — an incorrect or duplicated image is more than an aesthetic glitch. It can mean a resident checking the council's portal sees the wrong streetscape photograph, potentially confusing a Gosford CBD site with a residential block in Wamberal. Objections based on incorrect visual information carry less weight in the assessment process.

The NSW Government's ePlanning system, which Central Coast Council feeds data into, requires councils to maintain accurate supporting documentation under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Persistent data integrity failures can trigger audit reviews by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure — an unwelcome prospect for a council that only exited formal administration in 2023.

Residents who have lodged or are monitoring DA submissions should check the council's online DA tracker at least twice this week as corrections roll through. Council's planning counter at 2 Hely Street, Wyong, and the Gosford service centre at 49 Mann Street are both handling in-person queries for anyone who wants to verify what images are attached to a specific file. Phone lines to the planning team have been extended to 5pm through Friday July 11 to handle the additional inquiry load, according to council's website notice.

Anyone who spots a remaining duplicate or mismatched image after the correction window closes should lodge a formal data correction request through the council's online feedback form, quoting the DA number or property identifier. Council has indicated it will acknowledge correction requests within three business days. The audit is expected to be substantially complete by July 14.