Lots of construction could mean lots of disruption

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The next six months will prove pivotal in Newcastle's infrastructure works with construction not only starting on the race track for the Newcastle 500 on Wharf Road, but work on Bathers Way is still ongoing.

The main focus of construction on Wharf Road from today is work on what will be the pits. For the next six months the major works will be disruptive to residents, but after this year it will take only a few weeks to set up the event instead of months of preparation for the track this year.

Major construction work is still underway on the Shortland Esplanade as part of the Bathers Way project in a bid to revitalise the section of coastline, and will see more pedestrian access, the installation of new street lighting, reconstruction fo the retaining wall on the corner of Watt and Church Street, and two-way traffic returned to the section between Watt and Ocean Streets.

Lord Mayor of Newcastle Nuatali Nelmes says the works will be completed by November just when thousands of visitors descend on the city for the race.

"It is a big undertaking in the next six months and there will be disruptions and at the same time we're also still delivering really important components of the Bathers Way that actually doesn't have anything to do with Supercars but it's the time that we're delivering."

With two major projects underway at the same time, there is sure to be some form of disruption, and council say residents have all been given a significant amount of notification and also detailed maps of the changes in and around their streets for both supercars work and council's work in the city.

"Supercars are starting their works projects six months out and it's a pretty tight time frame to deliver not only the work they need to do for Supercars, but we've been quite opportunistic and making sure we're delivering a lot of renewal projects and upgrades to other services and infrastructure in the city at the same time so it is a big undertaking into the next six months and there will be disruptions," said Nuatali Nelmes. 

"Every other year, once this work is done there, will be much shorter few weeks of bump in and bump out for the event. So the disruption, and I've said this since we announced that we were bringing supercars to Newcastle, the majority of the disruption will be this year."

Newcastle Council Wants Last Minute Changes To Supercars Route

BY IAN CROUCH and LAUREN FREEMANTLE

The Newcastle V8 Supercars race might only be eight months away, but there could be some late changes made to the street circuit.

Newcastle councillors voted last night to push for the route to be run along Shortland Esplanade between Nobbys Beach and the Newcastle Ocean Baths instead of running it through the city's historic East End after complaints from residents.

Councillors believe if all parties agree to the change, the $2-million extra cost could be shared between Council, Destination NSW and Supercars Australia.

However, council's Acting Interim Chief Executive, Frank Cordingley told last night's council meeting it wasn't feasible to change the route just eight months out from the race, saying the planning alone would take three months and the construction period would take even longer.

Councillor Brad Luke today agreed with this appraisal, saying "If we change the location of the track now...then it could not be done for this year.

"Newcastle has a history of constantly throwing up little hurdles that end up killing off events. This will be one of the greatest events held in Newcastle and we need to get behind it...rather than putting up these little hurdles and blaming the state government for them."

Cr Luke expressed his disapproval at councillors who "hijacked" last night's meeting by proposing track route changes amidst discussions about using state government and event organiser funding to double as cost-effective improvements to Newcastle roads.

State Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery, has responded to the $8.8 million Supercars announcement by questioning how Council have found the money for the event whilst denying funding to improve flood-prone infrastructure in the city's inner suburbs.

It is understood that community consultation in conjunction with advice from Destination NSW and Supercars Australia will be used to decide upon the final track location.

Newcastle City Council's Acting Interim Chief Executive, Frank Cordingley.