Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Michael Parris

Labor councillors 'provide certainty' on end of Supercars relationship

The Supercars track running through Camp Shortland. File picture

Newcastle council's Labor majority says the city has "concluded" its relationship with Supercars and should start restoring the East End roads and parks which were modified for the race.

The seven Labor representatives, including lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes and deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen, have lodged a motion for next week's council meeting noting the elected council's "decision" on October 31 "concluding the City's relationship with Supercars".

The new motion says "given Council's decision" the council should start "road and public domain restoration works in Newcastle East ... prioritising the replacement of temporary pedestrian crossings with permanent infrastructure."

Cr Clausen said on Thursday that the "physical works" would "provide certainty to the Newcastle East community".

The council passed a motion in October noting that City of Newcastle's five-year agreement with Supercars and Destination NSW had expired, but the motion stopped short of explicitly ruling out the race returning in 2025 and beyond.

Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe argued at the October 31 meeting that the resolution should be clear in ruling out the race returning.

She said on Thursday that the new Labor motion provided the community with that assurance.

"The commitment to restoring all of the temporary infrastructure on the Supercars track, as a council priority, can give the community certainty that the race will not be returning to the East End," she said.

Cr Clausen said it was "appropriate that restoration works are undertaken now that a decision has been made on Supercars".

"The starting point will be reinstalling permanent pedestrian crossings, replacing the current temporary crossings," he said.

"I have requested that these works be undertaken with close engagement with the community, consistent with council's past commitments."

The Newcastle Herald reported last month that City of Newcastle was proceeding with rehabilitating Foreshore parkland and streets in line with Heritage Council of NSW approvals for the five-year race term, including removing the temporary roadway through Camp Shortland.

A council spokesperson said at the time that City of Newcastle would seek feedback from the Heritage Council and consult the community before "progressing to the final design stage and implementation" of the rehabilitation works.

The council also resolved last month to support Cessnock City Council's attempts to replace the Newcastle 500 with the Wine Country 500.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.