Wrong Photo, Real Anger: Central Coast Residents Speak Out Over Duplicate Image Problem

Residents across the Central Coast have had enough. Over the past several months, a pattern of duplicate and recycled images appearing in council communications, property listings, and infrastructure announcements has drawn sharp criticism from community groups who say the practice misleads people about what is actually being built, sold, or planned in their neighbourhoods.

The frustration is not trivial. Central Coast Council, which only emerged from state-appointed administration in late 2021 after a financial crisis that left ratepayers on the hook for roughly $565 million in debt, has been working to rebuild community confidence. Residents say the reappearance of stock or reused images — sometimes identical photos used across multiple projects or suburbs — cuts directly against that effort.

From Gosford to Wyong, the Same Picture Tells Different Stories

The complaints centre on a familiar experience: a resident sees a glossy render or photograph attached to a council update about the Gosford CBD renewal corridor along Mann Street, only to recognise the same image weeks later in a separate announcement about a development near Wyong town centre. Community Facebook groups for suburbs including Erina, Wamberal, and Tuggerah have hosted dozens of posts flagging examples over the past quarter.

One thread in the Central Coast Community Noticeboard group — which has more than 28,000 members — drew more than 200 comments after a resident posted side-by-side screenshots showing what appeared to be the same street-level render used in two distinct council project updates published months apart. The Central Coast Council communications team had not publicly responded to the post as of Friday afternoon.

The issue carries particular weight in the context of housing affordability. The Central Coast has become a pressure valve for Sydney renters and buyers priced out of the metropolitan market, with median house prices in Gosford sitting around $820,000 as of the March 2026 quarter, according to CoreLogic data. Buyers and renters making decisions based on visual materials that misrepresent a precinct's current state — or a development's actual design — are making those choices under real financial pressure.

The Central Coast Community Legal Centre on Donnison Street, Gosford, has fielded inquiries from residents asking whether misleading imagery in property marketing constitutes a breach of Australian Consumer Law. A spokesperson for the centre confirmed that image-based misrepresentation in commercial property contexts falls within the scope of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's guidelines on misleading conduct, though individual cases depend heavily on specific circumstances.

What Residents Want Done About It

Community advocates are not asking for perfection. They want transparency and a clear labelling system. Groups including the Central Coast Residents Network and the Gosford Waterfront Alliance have separately raised the matter with their local councillors, asking that any image used in official council or development authority documents be date-stamped and identified as either a current photograph, a commissioned render, or a stock image.

The Gosford waterfront precinct is one flashpoint. Planning documents and council newsletters tied to the Gosford Regional City Action Plan — a framework endorsed by the NSW Government to guide the CBD's renewal — have circulated images of activated foreshore spaces that bear little resemblance to the current state of the Kibble Park and Leagues Club field area. Residents who walk those streets daily notice the gap immediately.

NSW Fair Trading confirmed in June 2026 that it accepts complaints about misleading property imagery through its online portal, and that the agency has received a rise in image-related complaints statewide over the first half of this year, though specific Central Coast figures were not available at publication time.

For residents wanting to act now, the clearest path is a formal complaint lodged with NSW Fair Trading or, for council materials specifically, through Central Coast Council's official feedback mechanism at its Gosford administration offices on Hely Street. Community groups are also urging attendees at the next Central Coast Council ordinary meeting — scheduled for July 28 at the Wyong administration building — to raise the issue directly during public access time, which allows three-minute submissions from any registered resident.

The broader political backdrop matters too. With Premier Chris Minns acknowledging this week that NSW Labor faces a serious fight to hold government, local councils cannot afford to let small credibility failures compound. On the Central Coast, trust was hard won and, residents say, it is being chipped away one recycled image at a time.