A demolition crew has knocked down an old timber house in Newcastle's city centre despite concerns from the National Trust and nearby landowners that it was an important heritage building.
An excavator levelled the two-storey house at 74 King Street on Thursday to make way for the final stage of Iris Capital's EastEnd residential development.
The National Trust said in July last year that the house was most likely built in the 1860s, was the oldest timber building in Newcastle and had links to prominent government architect Mortimer Lewis senior.
"It's a sad day for Newcastle," National Trust Hunter chair Mark Metrikas said on Thursday.
"The city's heritage has been sacrificed on the altar of profit."
In November, Heritage NSW rejected a request from Newcastle Club chief executive officer Ian Baker to issue an interim protection order for the building.
Mr Metrikas said Newcastle council had relied too heavily on a heritage assessment by an Iris consultant before approving the "expedited" demolition in April last year with "no community notification or consultation".
"Here's a case where Heritage NSW probably correctly thought it wasn't of state significance because it's not in perfect order and it's not ornamental, however, there's no doubt it's the oldest timber building in Newcastle, 1862 ... I think it ticks all the boxes for local significance quite easily," he said.
"It's a disappointing outcome."
The Newcastle Herald reported two weeks ago that a senior heritage officer at Heritage NSW had told a colleague last year that she had "misjudged" an assessment of the building.
Documents released under freedom-of-information laws show the heritage officer sent an email to a program manager on September 5 expressing doubts about a preliminary assessment of the house and a briefing report she had prepared for Heritage NSW executive director Sam Kidman.
The undated preliminary assessment and briefing report both recommended rejecting a temporary protection order request from the Newcastle Club, which had sought to delay demolition of the 19th century house for six months to allow for a more detailed examination of its heritage value.
"I think I've changed my mind. I've gone backwards and forwards on it, but I think there's enough of an argument here that more research could be warranted," the senior heritage officer wrote.
The timber building has been at the centre of a dispute between Iris and nearby landowners since the developer lodged amended plans for the final stages of the EastEnd complex in June last year.
The new development application, which is still being assessed, seeks to change elements of an approved 2017 concept plan for the EastEnd project, adding three extra floors to a new building in front of the Newcastle Club and five storeys to another apartment tower.
A consultant working for Iris prepared a heritage report which said the house at 74 King Street "dates from the pre-1930s" and was "most likely constructed in the late 19th/early 20th centuries".
The Newcastle Club, Newcastle Inner City Residents Association, Newcastle East Residents Group, the National Trust and Anglican Dean Katherine Bowyer have publicly criticised the revised development's impact on heritage buildings and view corridors to Christ Church Cathedral.
