BY SHY-ANN ARKINSTALL
The Newcastle East Resident Group held a community meeting at City Hall last night to discuss concerns about the Newcastle 500.
Residents and local business owners filled out the Banquet Room and aired their grievances about the Supercars event.
Ash Greenaway, owner of The Lair on Hunter Street, surveyed more than 60 local businesses about the impact the event had on them and just one responded with a positive return.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes says the City of Newcastle is committed to hearing the concerns of the community and will consider them before renewing the event for a further five years.
Of those surveyed, half had to close for several days while the event was on and lost thousands of dollars before, during, and after the event.
Four businesses even reported losses between $50,000 to $100,000 compared to this time last year.
Many business owners spoke at the meeting with a similar sentiment to their story; the race has resulted in a loss of business and revenue and does more harm than good.
"Instead of enhancing business conditions it actually shuts the city down," said Rowena Foong, owner of High Tea with Mrs Woo.
Kath Fielden, owner of Fielden Associates, said the event caused disruptions with Wi-Fi and she eventually had to relocate for the time of the event as it was causing too many challenges for their work.
After a motion was put forward by Christine Everingham, spokesperson for the organisers, the group unanimously agreed the Newcastle 500 should not be held in the residential area of Newcastle East.
They also agreed, an independent audit should be conducted to understand the impacts of the event, and a motor racing circuit should be constructed for year-round motor sports events.
City of Newcastle has now employed the consultancy firm KPMG to capture the views of the community to understand the benefits and challenges as seen by locals.
The results of this will help inform council on decisions regarding the future of the Newcastle 500.
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp was in attendance, saying he was "here to listen."
After hearing the concerns voiced at the meeting, Mr Crakanthorp said he will be raising the issues with the new Minister for Sport when the government is sworn-in later this week.
