2024 Central Coast Council election
The 2024 Central Coast Council election will be held on 14 September 2024 to elect 15 councillors to Central Coast Council. The election will be held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales, Australia.

This will be the first election for the council since September 2017, after it was placed into administration on 30 October 2022 and eventually dismissed on 17 March 2022.

Background
Central Coast Council covers the entire Central Coast region, which has a population of 346,596 as of 2021. This makes it the third-most-populated LGA in New South Wales, behind only Blacktown and Canterbury-Bankstown.

The council was formed on 12 May 2016 as a "super council" after the state government merged the City of Gosford and Wyong Shire. It is composed of five wards, each electing three councillors, totalling 15 councillors for the entire LGA.

2017 election
250px|right|thumb|A map of the five wards showing the 2017 election results

At the 2017 election, the Labor Party won a plurality with six seats and 30.2% of the vote. Three independents, two members of the "Central Coast NEW Independents" group and four Liberals were also elected.

Administration and dismissal
In October 2020, it was revealed that the council was unable to pay 2,000 staff, and the council had a debt of $89 million. On 26 October 2020, Liberal councillors Rebecca Gale-Collins and Troy Marquart resigned, stating they sought to "differentiat[e] themselves from those councillors wishing to show due cause to the minister as to why they should remain in local government".

On 30 October 2020, then-local government minister Shelley Hancock announced the immediate suspension of the council and the appointment of former senior public servant Dick Persson as the new interim administrator. At the commencement of the administration period, debt has reached just under $350 million.

Persson was succeeded as administrator by former acting CEO Rik Hart on 13 May 2021. As a result of being in administration, no election took place for Central Coast in 2021.

On 17 March 2022, the state government formally dismissed the council after a report on its financial management was tabled in the New South Wales parliament. Although there were initially plans to hold a new election in September 2022, these did not eventuate.

Candidates
A total of 77 candidates are contesting the election.

Belinda Neal, a former federal MP and senator, is leading Labor and contesting Gosford West.

Former Gosford mayor Lawrie McKinna is leading "Team Central Coast", which has candidates in every ward. Two of the group's candidates, Matt Simon (Gosford East) and Mark Ella (The Entrance), withdrew in early August and were replaced by George Paterson and Sharryn Brownlee respectively. McKinna is contesting Gosford East, with former Liberal MP Pat Farmer running in second place on the ticket.

The Greens announced former Wyong councillor Sue Wynn as their lead candidate for Budgewoi on 7 July 2024, the only ward the party is contesting.

In Gosford East, the Liberal Party will only have two candidates, instead of three, after missing the candidate nomination deadline. The Liberals are also not endorsing in Budgewoi, where former Wyong mayor Douglas Eaton is leading an Independent Liberal ticket.

Central Coast NEW Independents, Ratepayers Choice Central Coast and Coasties Who Care are both endorsing one group each.

Budgewoi
      Ungrouped       Sue Wynn
 Chantelle Baistow
 Cath Connor Douglas Eaton
 Allan McDonald
 Greg Best Helen Crowley
 Joy Cooper
 Sarah Burns John Mouland
 Paul Wade
 Mitchell Cowan Edna Wacher
 Diana Lazatin
 Anabelle Alcanar Sandra Harris (Ind)  Kenneth Kozak (Ind)

Gosford East
    Ungrouped     Lawrie McKinna
 Pat Farmer
 George Paterson Sharon Walsh
 Trevor Drake
 Victoria Collins Jared Wright
 Dee Bocking Clive Lawton (Ind)  Sharon Andrews (Ind)  Rosemary de Lambert (Ind)  David Kings (Ind)

Gosford West
  NEW Independents Ratepayers Choice      Daniel Abou-Chedid
 Paul Chapman
 Neil Ferguson Jane Smith
 Alison Wade
 Lisa Wriley Kevin Brooks
 Stephen Sizer
 Lee Erlin Trent McWaide
 Alan Pappas
 Kylie Lowbridge  Coasties Who Care Ungrouped    Belinda Neal
 Adam McArdle
 Mark Ellis Lisa Bellamy
 Sarah Blakeway
 Tegan Mulqueeney Julian Richards (Ind)  Andrew Baker (Ind. PHON)

The Entrance
      Ungrouped      Margot Castles
 Matthew Jeffrey
 Joan Pavitt Sarah Ryan
 Patrick Murphy
 Fardin Pelarek Rachel Stanton
 Stephen Hood
 Tracey Perrem Corinne Lamont
 Sam Carter
 Dale Long Sharryn Brownlee
 Skaie Hull
 Kalvin Smith Rebecca Smiley (Ind. PHON)

Wyong
    Ungrouped     John McNamara
 Wade Russell
 Jennifer Ferguson Kyla Daniels
 Natasha Stone
 Alexander Burgin Kyle MacGregor
 Evan Schrei
 Melanie Gould Michael Whittington (Ind)  Daniel Craig (Ind)  Rosemary de Lambert (Ind)  Jara Millward (Ind)

Results

+2024 New South Wales local elections: Central Coast Party Votes % Swing  Seats Change                                                           Central Coast NEW Independents        Ratepayers Choice Central Coast                Independent One Nation       Formal votes      Informal votes      Total     15  Registered voters / turnout    

Budgewoi

Gosford East

Gosford West

The Entrance

Wyong

References

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