Central Coast Plateau Chamber of Commerce : Home

WELCOME TO THE CENTRAL COAST PLATEAU CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The Central Coast Plateau Chamber of Commerce was established in April 2005 to provide support and advice to local businesses and the general community for the districts of Calga, Central Mangrove, Kulnura, Lower Mangrove, Mangrove Mountain, Mt White, Peats Ridge, Somersby and Spencer.

The Central Coast Plateau is unique to the rest of the Central Coast in that it has been a highly productive agricultural industry over time with some industrial land use. In the 1900s, timber getting, passion fruit growing and citrus orchards became economic mainstays of the Plateau. Large numbers of poultry farms were established in the Kulnura area in the post WW2 era. The main land uses are National Park and State Forest, with some quarries and farms.

The main objective of the Chamber is to 'have a balanced and commonsense approach to business and community issues'.

Early in 2007 we held a community Strategic Planning Workshop which was attended by around 100 interested people. The overwhelming outcome of the workshop was that the community wanted a viable future for farming in this area.

There is more background information about the Chamber here.

If you have an issue with which you believe we may be able to assist, there is more information on this page.


Next Committee Meeting
	The next Committee Meeting will be held at Glen Ayr Kiwi Fruit Farm, 970 Wisemens Ferry Road, Somersby, at 6:30pm on Tuesday, 19 January 2010.
Weather
Mangrove Mountain Hourly rainfall and temperature. Local Radar Map From Lemon Tree Passage

Industry not chickenfeed

You can view an article here that was published in the Central Coast Express Advocate, February 5th 2010.

Economic Profile of Agriculture on the Central Coast Plateau

Earlier this year we received funding from NSW Industry and Investment under the Community Economic Development program and from Peats Ridge Springs to complete a profile of the farming industry on the Central Coast Plateau.

The report is now complete and is an interesting and easy read with some fascinating case studies of our local growers. After I read this document it reinforced to me the significance of the Plateau, as a food producing area that is becoming increasingly important, as agriculture is being marginalised in the Sydney Basin.

Here are just a few interesting extracts from the profile:

· Gosford LGA and the Central Coast Plateau, where the bulk of agricultural activity is conducted within the LGA, produces a high proportion of all agricultural production in the Sydney Region.

· The 2005-06 Agricultural Census shows that the value of production in the Gosford West Statistical Local Area (SLA), which includes the Plateau (where the bulk of agricultural activity in the SLA is situated), was approximately $92 million, or 14.6% of agricultural production in the Sydney Region.

· The Plateau has the highest value of production per hectare in the Region, because of the intensive nature of activity. Furthermore, its share of total agricultural production in the Sydney Region is increasing.

· The Report shows that chickens for meat, nurseries and cut flowers are the most important industries on the Plateau.

· A comparison of data from the 2001 and 2005 Agricultural Censuses Expansion shows that agricultural production in the Gosford LGA is significant and expanding. In 2001, total production in Gosford LGA was $50,922,569 and in 2005, $93,357,147, an increase of more than 83%. The bulk of this increase is derived from poultry, nurseries and cut flowers.

· The poultry industry including chickens for meat and egg production is the largest agriculture sector on the Plateau. With an output of over $56.5 million, the Plateau is the largest meat chicken production area in the Sydney Region and is considered by NSW DPI as equal to any other area in NSW.

· In terms of value of production, the nursery industry in Gosford West SLA, with an output of approximately $12.7 million, is exceeded by only Baulkham Hills North and Hornsby North SLAs in the Sydney Region.

The Chamber will use this document to highlight to the state government, Council and industry groups the importance of farming on the Plateau and that a range of forward thinking initiatives aimed at its protection is urgently required.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Susan Rowe from Industry & Investment for her assistance, Peats Ridge Springs for their support and DPI for reviewing the document for us prior to its release. You can download the complete report here.

Peter Lipscombe
President

New Gosford City Growers Market

Local farmers/growers are invited to the inaugural Gosford City Growers Market held each month commencing Saturday 13th February 2010 in the new look Kibble Park. This is a joint project between Gosford Business Improvement District and Gosford city Rotary, and is supported by Gosford City Council.

A brochure that includes and Expression of Interest form can be downloaded here.

© 2009 Central Coast Plateau Chamber of Commerce Inc
ABN: 81 429 308 979