- Capital works, 2026-27$348.9m
- Renewing what exists$158.5m
- Major upgrades$119m
- New construction$49.4m
- Cost-blowout contingency$22m
- Balanced budgets in a row6
Central Coast Council adopted its Delivery Program 2025-29, Operational Plan 2026-27 and budget at the 29 June 2026 Ordinary Council Meeting, its sixth consecutive balanced budget. The adoption announcement puts the 2026-27 capital works program at $348.9 million: $119 million of major infrastructure upgrades, $158.5 million of renewals, and $49.4 million of new construction.
Acting Mayor John Mouland framed the plan simply: “The Delivery Program 2025-2029 and Operational Plan 2026-27 are about going back to basics and reflect what the community has told us matters most.” In the same statement he pointed to the 2,200 kilometre road network, footpaths, libraries and community facilities as the priorities the community named.
The extra $38 million, item by item
On top of the base program, council added $38 million from unrestricted funds to the four-year Delivery Program for a list of named local priorities. This is where the suburb-level decisions live:
Added spending in the 4-year Delivery Program
$ million per line item, as itemised in council’s adoption announcement
Council also added $7.1 million to increase roadside vegetation mowing frequency; it runs over five years, so it sits outside the $38 million four-year figure. Source: council’s adoption announcement, linked in Sources.
The big named projects for this year
| Project | Where | 2026-27 $ |
|---|---|---|
| Road improvements and renewal programs | Region-wide | $44.6m |
| Charmhaven Sewage Treatment Plant major works | Charmhaven | $40.2m |
| Sewer Rising Main partial replacement | West Gosford | $14.7m |
| New shared pathways construction | Region-wide | $13.86m |
| Ocean Beach and Rawson Road intersection upgrade | Woy Woy | $8.65m |
| Sewer main rehabilitation | Region-wide | $6.39m |
| Shared path and footpath renewal | Region-wide | $5.7m |
| Colongra Sporting Complex development | Colongra | $4.4m |
| Water main renewal | Region-wide | $4.31m |
| Mardi Animal Care Facility construction | Mardi | $1.55m |
The Ocean Beach and Rawson Road money lands on an intersection council was already asking residents about: a June consultation proposed replacing the single-lane roundabout with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings on all four sides.
The $22 million cushion
Chief Executive Officer David Farmer said the program is built to survive price shocks: “Ongoing market pressures including cost escalation from the fuel crisis and global supply chain challenges have put strain on government budgets at all levels. We’re managing this risk responsibly through the allocation of a $22 million program contingency within our capital works program to ensure we can manage cost fluctuations without compromising service delivery to the community.”
Where this document came from, and what happens next
The draft plan, budget, fees and charges and long-term financial plan went on public exhibition through council’s Your Voice Our Coast platform before adoption; that page keeps the draft documents and the exhibition history back to 2020-21. Council’s next ordinary meeting is scheduled for 28 July 2026. The Coast Record will keep a running list of what the budget builds on the What’s being built record page.
Methodology
All dollar figures are from council’s budget adoption announcement (Source 1), reproduced without adjustment. The eleven four-year additions itemised there sum to exactly $38.0 million (our arithmetic); the $7.1 million mowing allocation is listed by council as a five-year item and is charted in the note, not the bars. The adopted Delivery Program and Operational Plan document itself, including its Major Projects Summary appendix, is the underlying primary record and is referenced by Source 1.