Proposed restoration for Newcastle Station

BY SARAH BARONOWSKI

Revitalising Newcastle is one step closer to restoring the city's railway station and delivering on its promise to the community after lodging a development application earlier this week.

The plans are looking to restore the site's heritage features in the hopes of turning it into a high-profile tourist destination.

Stage one of the proposal involves reinstating a balcony on the building's first level, creating openings onto Scott Street for pedestrian access and filling in the area between platforms to create a large, open space for public use.

Newcastle Railine [Image: The Fifth Estate]

Program Director, Michael Cassel says the ideas behind the restoration are largely inspired by the community.

"[They want] something that's iconic, something that has food and beverage offering and something that they can be proud of so if you have visitors that come to Newcastle you can say 'hey, let's go down to Newcastle Railway Station, it's the place to be.'"

He says the stage one plans will breathe life back into the precinct.

"We want to ensure this valuable and much-loved city asset does not sit unused any longer. The last thing anyone wants is to see this beautiful building sit and rot."

But Property Council of Australia Hunter Director, Andrew Fletcher says if the site isn't restored to its fullest potential, then Newcastle could miss out on vital tourism opportunities.

"International visitors from the Asia-Pacific and China...are going to start streaming through Newcastle Airport in the next few years," he said.

"If we don't have a draw card, a globally competitive tourism draw card in the city centre of Newcastle then those visitors will bypass our regional capital altogether and will take their valuable export dollars straight to Sydney and to other parts of Australia."

Andrew Fletcher says he wants to see the railway station become a real cultural icon for Newcastle.

"Something that could really stamp the brand of the city in the same way that the Opera House does for Sydney or the Mona does for Hobart. Cities all around the world that are well-known and they're competitive, have these kinds of cultural institutions that people love to come and visit and Newcastle needs one of its own."

The project is now awaiting Council approval before restoration work begins.

Budget Day has arrived...

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Whether it's a better plan for housing affordability or funding boosts for local infrastructure, all will be revealed when the Federal Budget is handed down this evening.

The NRMA is hoping the budget will provide funding boosts to projects they've been involved with across the Hunter, in particular plans for improving the bottleneck at Hexham with traffic heading to and from the Sydney motorway, and the Lake Macquarie interchange which will get commuters out of cars and onto public transport.

Kyle Loades Image dailytelegraph.com.au

NRMA Chairman Kyle Loades believes more funding to continue improving Hunter's major roads will continue to reduce fatalities and make the roads a safer place to be.

"The reality is the more investment into five-star roads saves lives and even though there have been improvements, there's still much more to be done so the federal government need to keep committing more funds for regional and our major roads around the Hunter and beyond," said Kyle Loades.

Meanwhile, Hunter housing experts are confident a solution to the affordable housing crisis in Newcastle will be outlined in tonight's federal budget.

Negative gearing is unlikely to be abolished, but experts say they'd be surprised if a housing solution wasn't discussed in the budget and expect it will increase the supply of affordable housing.

Hunter Director of the Property Council Andrew Fletcher says if there isn't a concrete plan within the budget tonight, "they can also force state and local governments to lift their game in terms of planning and doing those sorts of things over time will see pressure come off rising house prices".

The median house price in Newcastle has risen from around $300,000 to around $500,000 making it near impossible for first home buyers to get into the market and forcing many to look outside of the city.

"We've got commonwealth and NSW budgets due in the coming weeks - at the heart of those budgets we expect new policy measures on housing affordability and policy settings which will help solve the Hunters housing shortage," said Andrew Fletcher.

Hunter councils are stashing the cash

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It's been revealed the Hunter's "big five" councils are hoarding million of dollars of ratepayers money.

In the Property Council's latest audit of section 94 infrastructure levies, they discovered Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens and Cessnock are stashing millions of dollars earning interest and bettering their balance sheets.

The five councils collected $200 million in cash from developer contributions for infrastructure and raked in nearly $50 million worth of levies, only half of which was actually spent within the 2015-16 financial year.

Hunter Director of the Property Council Andrew Fletcher believes the council would rather make their balance sheets look good, rather than spend the money on infrastructure the community wants, needs and are calling out for.

"This is money which could be going towards things like cycleways and sporting grounds today and it's just plain wrong that councils are hoarding this cash and improving their balance sheets while they rob the community of these vital assets."

Lake Macquarie Council is sitting on top with the most unused funds, with a total of $97 million, followed a little further behind by Maitland Council who have nearly $58 million.

Newcastle Council is sitting on just over $17 million, Port Stephens have about $13.5 million and finally Cessnock Council with nearly $7 million.

"Often we hear from local government about their infrastructure backlogs and cost shifting and the like but the numbers don't lie and with over $4.4 million in interest alone earnt in the last 12 months, it really points to the fact that councils need to start spending this money and start providing some of that infrastructure the community wants, needs and are calling for," said Andrew Fletcher.

Andrew Fletcher says councils defended their position saying the funds needed to be held and used to repair ageing infrastructure, and that the money reflects the growth of the city and the significant increase in the development of new land parcels in recent years.

Newcastle Council Defers Decision On Rail Corridor Rezoning

BY IAN CROUCH

Newcastle councillors have stopped short on making a decision to rezone the disused rail corridor.

They deferred the vote last night on rezoning the land between Worth Place and Newcastle Railway Station which would've cleared the way for development.

Instead they've left the proposal on the table to allow for a briefing from council officers with an invitation to Urban Growth.

Councillor also want a report from the state government demonstrating the rail corridor is no longer needed for the city's transport needs.

Urban Growth wants the 4.25 hectare parcel of land rezoned to allow for mixed use development including public recreation as well as public education and tourist use of the corridor.

The plan also provides for up to 12 buildings and 3 new parks.

However Andrew Fletcher from the Property Council has slammed council's decision, saying it's putting the city's revitalisation at risk.

"Council weren't being asked last night to give any final stamp of approval. They were merely being asked to keep the process moving forward  - to take the rezoning to what's called a Gateway Process, which triggered another round of community consultations. So, by demanding further reports and further briefings, they're really risking the jobs and growth from the $2 billion investment pipeline in the city centre," he said.

Andrew Fletcher

Changes on the Horizon for Newcastle's CBD

BY BRIDGET GUNN

The west end of Newcastle is driving a huge boom of construction, with $700 million going towards the new high-rise housing hub.

This project is part of $2 billion going towards construction in the Newcastle area.

These new projects in Newcastle are set to have a combined value of $1.6 billion, and comprise of more than 3,000 apartments including 1,200 in the west end.

Hunter Director of the Property Council of Australia Andrew Fletcher says the construction projects will drive Newcastle's future economic growth.

"The construction projects will mean new jobs for Newcastle, it is extremely positive for the city " says Fletcher.

"We know that we have to cater for something like 10,000 new jobs and 6,000 new residents over the next 15 to 20 years."

Mr Fletcher believes that the state government's willingness to press forward with the light rail proposal in Newcastle has been a strong driving force for the construction projects.

"The government's commitment to the light rail for Newcastle has been the thing that sparked the private sectors interest in the city."

Andrew Fletcher
Source: The Newcastle Herald