4 laneswhat Council resolved on 24 March 2026, with no vote recorded against

2 lanesOption 5, with a central pontoon: the officers’ and the Traffic Unit’s preference

about 53trailer-capable spaces at Lions Park, against a guideline of 25 to 30 per lane

Unfundedworks in the Lions Park precinct, per the report; adopting the masterplan commits to none

If you launch at Lions Park on the Woy Woy waterfront and have been waiting for the bigger ramp Council voted for in March, the business paper for the 10 November committee meeting is the one to read. It reports that a four-lane ramp ran into trouble on almost every test the council applied: parking, the shared path that crosses both ramps, nearby moorings, cost and approvals. Its recommendation asks the committee to Determines which boat ramp option (Options 1 to 5) it prefers for Lions Park, for inclusion in the final Woy Woy Foreshore Masterplan. The final masterplan then goes to full Council for adoption.

The paper was published on the council’s business papers portal on 4 November. The meeting is at 5pm on Tuesday 10 November in function room 2, level 2 of the council building at 2 Hely Street, Wyong, and is livestreamed. This story reports what the committee is asked to decide; it has not yet decided anything.

How four lanes got into the plan

The draft concept design for the foreshore was exhibited from 11 August to 22 September 2025. Feedback on Lions Park, the report says, focused on boat ramp capacity, trailer parking and safety where the shared path meets the ramps, and a community meeting on 16 October 2025 agreed the western ramp should go from two lanes to at least three.

On 10 March 2026 the committee, voting 6 to 0, supported the final Lions Park design with the Western boat ramp upgraded to three (3) lanes, or four (4) lanes if practical. Two weeks later full Council dropped the condition. Resolution C-26/965 of 24 March supports the design with the Western boat ramp upgraded to four (4) lanes. The minutes record 14 councillors for and none against. Both resolutions also close the eastern ramp once the western one is upgraded, and ask for a car park layout that maximises trailer parking.

No four-lane option had been prepared before the committee’s March meeting, the report says, so the council engaged Moir Studio to test whether one was practical.

Committee, 10 March 2026

  • Western ramp3 lanes, or 4 if practical
  • Vote6 to 0
  • ResolutionCCC-26/38

Council, 24 March 2026

  • Western ramp4 lanes
  • Vote14 for, none against
  • ResolutionC-26/965

Officers, 10 November 2026 paper

  • Western ramp2 lanes, central pontoon
  • StatusAssessment’s preference; the committee decides
  • Option5 of 5
What each body asked for at the western ramp. From the committee’s minutes of 10 March 2026 (pages 6 and 7), the Ordinary Council minutes of 24 March 2026 (page 28) and the 10 November 2026 committee business paper (pages 15 to 21).

The five options

Lions Park today has 79 parking spaces: 33 for boat trailers, 20 flexible and 26 general. The shared path already crosses both ramps, which the consultant identified as conflict points. The park also has a district-level playspace, built in September 2024, beside that crossing.

The five Lions Park boat ramp options in the business paper
OptionArrangementWhat the paper says for itWhat the paper says against it
1Keep 2 lanes, add a second pontoon (the draft masterplan)Better launching and retrieval, little change to the layoutNo added capacity, so queuing may continue at peak times
23 lanes, one shared pontoonAdds a lane; the pontoon serves two lanesMore conflict with the shared path; may lose parking
34 lanes, 2 new lanes west of the pontoon (Council’s resolution)Highest launching and retrieval capacityMay be excessive for expected demand; greatest path conflict; loss of parking; highest cost; impacts current moorings
43 lanes, second pontoonPontoon access for all ramps; adds a laneMore path conflict; possible parking loss; higher cost and greater marine impact
5Keep 2 lanes, central pontoon between themBoth lanes get pontoon access; beach kept for small craft; little impact on parkingNo added capacity, so queuing may continue at peak times

Condensed from the options table in the business paper, pages 18 and 19. The paper’s only attachment is Moir Studio’s Woy Woy Foreshore concept design report dated July 2025; the five-option investigation the recommendation refers to is summarised in the officers’ report rather than attached, so this table is the officers’ account of it.

The parking arithmetic

The officers tested each option against the NSW Boat Ramp Facility Guidelines (Roads and Maritime Services, 2015). The principle doing most of the work is that, on a tight urban site, the number of lanes follows the parking, and the report gives the guideline’s general recommendation as 25 to 30 car and trailer spaces per lane. Counting the flexible spaces, Lions Park has about 53 that can take a trailer. That meets the benchmark for two lanes and falls well short for three or four, and the report notes the three and four-lane figures are before any parking is lost to the larger works.

From the business paper, pages 19 and 20: the guideline’s 25 to 30 spaces per lane, multiplied out by the report for 2, 3 and 4 lanes, and its count of about 53 trailer-capable spaces including the flexible ones. Rows to scale, one dot per space.

The comparison ramps the consultant looked at are worth a second look, though. The report gives about 20 trailer spaces per lane at Koolewong (two lanes), 19 at Deerubbun (three lanes) and 27 at Pelican (two lanes). Two of the three run below the 25 to 30 benchmark already.

Trailer spaces per lane
RampLanesSpaces per lane
Guideline benchmarkany25 to 30
Pelican2about 27
Koolewong2about 20
Deerubbun3about 19
Lions Park, 2 lanes2about 26.5
Lions Park, 3 lanes3about 17.7
Lions Park, 4 lanes4about 13.3

Benchmark and the three comparison ramps from the business paper, pages 19 and 20. The Lions Park rows are our division of the paper’s “about 53” spaces by the number of lanes, before any spaces lost to a wider ramp.

What the agencies said

The case against four lanes does not rest on parking alone. The council’s Traffic Unit recommended Option 5 and further parking surveys. It advised that three lanes would expose pedestrians and cyclists at the crossing less than four, and warned that more ramp capacity may push boat-trailer parking into nearby streets unless more parking or other measures are put in place. Transport for NSW is firmer:

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) does not support a 4-lane ramp because of its impact on nearby moorings.

Central Coast Council, Community and Culture Committee business paper, 10 November 2026, item 2.1, page 21

Its waterway operations staff have also given preliminary advice that their preferred outcome is to keep the existing pontoon and two lanes, without a new western lane, and asked that access to the eastern ramp near the Sea Scouts be kept, because contractors often use it to remove unsafe and derelict vessels. The March resolutions close that ramp once the western one is upgraded. A formal navigation assessment is still needed during detailed design.

On the officers’ reading, Option 5 matches the parking, gives both lanes a pontoon, keeps the beach for small craft, leaves the path crossing as it is and is likely to be cheaper and simpler to get approved. Peak demand, the report says, can be spread across the catchment: the consultant found the Koolewong and Blackwall ramps nearby can take extra boats at peak times.

What happens next

The report is plain about money: Work in the Lions Park precinct is currently unfunded. Adopting the masterplan does not commit the council to any specific works, and delivery depends on future budgets, developer contributions and grants. Whichever option is chosen still needs detailed design, parking surveys, the navigation assessment and approvals.

  1. September 2024 The district-level playspace at Lions Park is built.
  2. 11 August to 22 September 2025 The draft foreshore concept design is on exhibition.
  3. 16 October 2025 A community meeting agrees the western ramp should have at least three lanes.
  4. 10 March 2026 Committee: three lanes, or four if practical (CCC-26/38).
  5. 24 March 2026 Council: four lanes (C-26/965).
  6. 4 November 2026 Business paper published with five options and the officers’ assessment.
  7. 10 November 2026, 5pm Community and Culture Committee, Wyong: which option goes into the final masterplan.
  8. Date not given Final Woy Woy Foreshore Masterplan to Council for adoption.

Sources: the 10 November 2026 business paper, item 2.1, pages 15 to 23, and its portal record; the committee minutes of 10 March 2026 and the Council minutes of 24 March 2026.

We will read the committee’s minutes when they are published and report which option it preferred, and report the masterplan when it goes to Council.

Our view

The officers’ strongest points are the ones Council did not have in March: Transport for NSW will not support a ramp that pushes into the moorings, the agency has asked that access to the eastern ramp be kept for derelict-vessel removal, and a wider crossing would sit beside a district playspace. Those are hard constraints, and they tell against Option 3 whatever the parking says.

The parking benchmark is a softer argument than the report’s table makes it look. The guideline figure is a “general recommendation”, and two of the consultant’s own comparison ramps, including three-lane Deerubbun, already run at about 19 or 20 spaces a lane. A three-lane Lions Park would be a little below that, before losses. The committee should weigh Option 2 on its path-safety and street-parking risks rather than dismiss it on the benchmark alone. And the Moir Studio investigation the recommendation asks councillors to note should be published in full, so residents who asked for three lanes can read the evidence for themselves. None of it is built until money is found, which gives the council time to get this right once.