Method
My research for the case study included in-depth interviews with key people involved in developing the initiative and other stakeholders. They were:
- Deborah Lowndes, Project Manager Create, Innovate Gosford City and Manager of Gosford Business Improvement District
- Mel Laws, Community Partnership Broker, Youth Connections Gosford
- Jason van Genderen, local creative entrepreneur and founder of Treehouse Creative
- Rob Wilcox, Real Estate Agent, Chapman and Frazer Real Estate
All those interviewed gave their consent in writing.
Other research tasks included:
- Attending five fortnightly meetings of the Steering Committee
- A review of all existing documentation including planning documents and minutes of Steering Committee meetings
- Observation of foot traffic in the Gosford CBD at different times and different days of the week
- Strategic conversations with:
- Members of the Create, Innovate Gosford City Steering Committee
- Chris Holstein, Councillor, Gosford City Council
- Lisa Andersen, Manager, and Katrina Fox, Community Manager, Empty Spaces Project, UTS
- Analysis of ABS and Gosford Council statistics to develop a demographic profile of Gosford
I recommend that Create, Innovate Gosford City and the Empty Spaces Project undertake further research in early 2012 to:
- build on this case study,
- document the first year of empty space reuse in the Gosford CBD and examine its impacts, and
- make visible and examine the special local characteristics of creative industries on the NSW Central Coast.