COUNCIL meetings would return to City Hall, as would the lord mayor's office, under a Newcastle Independents' plan to sublet the top floor of the council's leased Stewart Avenue administration headquarters.
The proposal, announced as an election pledge by the alliance of councillors and candidates, includes moving an emergency response centre from the top to ground floor to replace the "roll-in, roll-out" council chamber.
The Independents, who believe the council wasted $1 million on a new chamber while there is one at City Hall, said freeing up the top floor would allow it to be sublet, saving "an estimated $450,000 on rent each year".
"Imagine how that money could have been better spent on the community?" Newcastle Independents lord mayoral candidate Cr John Church said.
The building's top floor was a late addition by the developer during planning after a request from council for more space.
It features the emergency centre, lord mayor and CEO's offices, a kitchen and indoor/outdoor spaces used for functions.
It sold the roundhouse for $16 million but will pay at least $35 million in rent at Stewart Avenue over the next 15 years, recouping some funds by subleasing some space.
Independents councillor Kath Elliott said the lease, which includes two five-year options, was the council's largest financial liability and over 25 years rental costs could "exceed $75 million".
Labor councillor and deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen described the Independents' plan as a "thought bubble proposal" and "misleading".
He said it would likely cost millions to shift the "hardwired" emergency centre, reconfigure the building and meet in City Hall.
"The Newcastle Independents' estimated revenue from further subleases is fanciful," he said.
"It's important to note that John Church voted for council to move to 12 Stewart Avenue ... both John Church and Kath Elliott voted for the emergency operations centre to be co-located on the top floor.
"This was a specific request from emergency agencies to address their requirements."
The council's shift to Stewart Avenue has proved one of its most controversial actions this term.
It repeatedly rebutted attempts to access information about the costs of the move, often citing confidentiality.
Cr Elliott was censured last year for quoting inflated rental costs to the media a year earlier.
The Independents' said their plan to lease the building's top floor formed part of a pledge to "look at cost savings across the council", including scrapping overseas travel for councillors, Supercars lunches, and weekend strategic planning sessions at resorts outside the city.
"Our guiding principle will always be to make decisions that represent value for money and deliver benefits for residents first," she said.
The old council chamber in City Hall is sometimes used for committee and other meetings.
