Newcastle City Local Government Area has reportedly missed out on more than $170 million in government grants in one year alone due to confusion surrounding the city’s regional or metropolitan status.
According to an independent report from the Hunter Research Foundation Centre, Newcastle was deemed ineligible for six regional funding sources worth more almost 6 billion dollars with no metropolitan alternative.
“For comparison, neighbouring equivalent sized councils in the Lake Macquarie and Central Coast LGAs were eligible for all six funding sources,” Lord Mayor Cr Nuatali Nelmes says.
"We are not receiving fair access to State Government funding. Newcastle is ineligible to access the Regional Cultural Fund, as it is defined as ‘metropolitan’, but there is no equivalent opportunity within metropolitan funding rounds."
The lord Mayor says the City often falls between the gaps of policy development and grant funding as Newcastle is a metropolitan centre that services regional populations across the Hunter.
Despite Newcastle being a major economic hub of the Hunter region with gross regional product of $17.7 billion, the LGA received just 0.06 per cent of Restart NSW funds allocated to date, well below its 2.11 per cent share of the state’s population and its three per cent share of Gross State Product.
“Newcastle
is effectively shut out of all NSW cultural infrastructure grants.”
“In partnership with Wollongong and Geelong, City of Newcastle has established a Gateway Cities Alliance to advocate and collectively explore economic opportunities.”
It's hoped these changes could help underpin regional growth and improve the efficiency of grant programs.
