News
A sprawling archive of repeated and mismatched photographs has been slowing down the council's Gosford CBD renewal communications work, and staff have begun a systematic fix.
Central Coast Council confirmed this week that it has begun a structured audit of its digital asset management system after discovering hundreds of duplicate and mislabelled images had accumulated across its public communications and planning portals — a problem that has been quietly undermining everything from flood resilience fact sheets to housing development announcements on the Gosford CBD renewal microsite.
The issue matters now because the council, still rebuilding its operational credibility after emerging from state-appointed administration in 2021, is pushing hard on two major public-facing projects: the Gosford City Centre revitalisation framework and updated climate resilience planning documents tied to the Tuggerah Lakes foreshore. Both rely heavily on accurate, current photography to accompany community consultation materials. Mismatched or repeated images on official documents erode trust at precisely the moment the council needs residents and developers to take its plans seriously.
Staff from the council's communications and digital services teams identified the problem in late June after a routine review of the platform used to manage images across Council's website and the Central Coast Regional Planning Portal. According to internal council communications reviewed by The Daily Central Coast, at least three separate folders within the system contained near-identical aerial photographs of the Gosford waterfront precinct, some dated as far back as 2018 and no longer reflecting the current state of Kibble Park or the redeveloped Laycock Street Theatre precinct. Other duplicates included construction progress shots from the defunct Wyong Town Centre streetscape project that had been incorrectly tagged and were appearing in search results for unrelated Gosford documents.
The scale is not trivial. A council spokesperson — whose comments were provided in a written statement to this masthead on Thursday but who was not authorised to be named individually — indicated the initial scan flagged more than 400 asset files for review, with roughly one in five classified as either a confirmed duplicate or carrying incorrect metadata. The audit is expected to be completed by 25 July 2026, ahead of the next scheduled update to the council's Gosford CBD Renewal webpage.
The broader context sharpens the stakes. Sydney recorded its hottest June since 1859 this year, a fact already filtering into updated climate risk materials being prepared by Council's environment team for the Tuggerah Lakes Estuary and Coastline Management Plan. If those documents carry old or misattributed images — storm surge photographs from 2007 appearing under captions referencing 2025 flood events, for example — the credibility damage is immediate and difficult to walk back in community consultation sessions.
The council has flagged three practical steps it expects to complete before the end of July. First, a deduplication pass using its existing content management tools, removing confirmed copies and archiving originals with correct date and location metadata. Second, a review protocol requiring any image used in planning or consultation documents to carry a location tag matching at least one of the Central Coast's 14 designated planning precincts — from Gosford City Centre through to Warnervale and Toukley. Third, a training session for the six staff members who regularly upload assets to the system, scheduled for the week of 14 July at the council chambers on Mann Street, Gosford.
For community members who interact with council planning documents — particularly those tracking progress on fast rail advocacy materials prepared through the Central Coast Regional Organisation of Councils, or housing affordability data tied to the First Home Buyer Choice statistics circulated by NSW Planning — the practical advice is straightforward: if an image in an official document looks out of date or inconsistent with a location you know well, flag it through the council's online feedback portal. The audit team is actively cross-referencing public tips against its internal list. The portal address is centralcoast.nsw.gov.au and the relevant feedback category is listed under Digital Services.
The council has not put a dollar figure on the staff time involved in the audit. Given its post-administration budget pressures — the council carried a reported deficit of roughly $565 million when administrators were appointed in 2020 — keeping the fix internal rather than contracting it out reflects a deliberate cost-containment choice, even if it means the work takes longer.
Spread the word
About this article
Published by The Daily Central Coast