Central Coast Council Moves to Fix Duplicate Image Problem Plaguing Gosford Renewal Records

Central Coast Council confirmed this week it is undertaking a targeted audit of its digital records system after staff identified a significant number of duplicate images embedded across planning and communications documents, with the problem concentrated in files connected to the Gosford CBD Revitalisation program and the broader Coastal Open Space Strategy.

The issue matters now because council is approaching a critical phase of its post-administration recovery. Since the elected council was restored in December 2021 following a period of NSW Government-appointed administration, rebuilding public trust in council's document management and transparency has been a stated priority. Duplicate images inside official planning exhibits — particularly those lodged on the NSW Planning Portal — can create confusion over site conditions, stall development assessment timelines, and in some cases trigger objections based on outdated or misrepresented visual evidence.

Where the Problem Has Surfaced

The duplication issue has been most visible in materials prepared for two active corridors: Mann Street in the Gosford CBD, where several mixed-use development applications are currently on public exhibition, and the Kariong–Somersby employment lands precinct, where council is updating its strategic documentation ahead of a rezoning submission to the Department of Planning. In both cases, site photography uploaded in 2023 appears to have been re-imported into newer document packages without version control, resulting in images from different stages of demolition or construction being presented as current.

The Central Coast Local Planning Panel, which assesses larger applications in the Gosford catchment, flags document integrity as a standard procedural check. Council's own records management framework — updated in July 2024 — requires that all images attached to planning instruments carry metadata including a capture date and the name of the responsible officer. Staff identified during a routine internal review that a portion of files uploaded between January and May 2026 did not meet this standard.

What Council Is Doing About It

Council's digital records team began a line-by-line pass of affected files on Monday, 30 June, according to information posted on the council's corporate governance page. The audit is expected to run through to late July 2026. Files that fail the metadata check are being quarantined rather than deleted, preserving the evidentiary record while staff re-tag or replace images with verified versions.

The scope of the problem is not trivial. Council manages a digital asset library that, according to its 2025–26 Operational Plan, holds more than 140,000 individual files across planning, infrastructure, and community services portfolios. Even a duplication rate of one or two percent translates to well over a thousand records requiring attention.

For residents tracking developments on Mann Street or monitoring the progress of the Gosford Waterfront Urban Activation Precinct — a site that has drawn significant community interest since the NSW Government committed to unlocking the foreshore land — the practical effect is straightforward: any planning documents re-exhibited after the audit completes will carry updated, correctly dated imagery. Council has advised that no current development applications have been formally paused as a result of the review, though officers have the discretion to extend exhibition periods if they determine affected imagery is material to a particular application.

Anyone who has already lodged a submission on a Gosford CBD application and believes the supporting images did not accurately reflect current site conditions can contact council's development assessment team at the Gosford office on Mann Street before the close of the audit period. Council has indicated it will renotify affected applicants and submitters where a document package is materially changed following the review. The next scheduled meeting of the Central Coast Local Planning Panel at which Gosford items appear is listed for late July, meaning officers have a narrow window to resolve the bulk of affected files before those matters reach the panel table.