Council set to swing final axe on Newcastle 500

Newcastle council is poised to vote next week for a motion which would have the effect of axing the city’s Supercars event for good.

Specifically, councillors will be asked to vote on a motion which would render the streets of Newcastle East unusable for motor racing, as well as further planning for the removal of the sole permanent section of the track.

Ominously for the Newcastle 500, the moves would “provide certainty to the Newcastle East community” that the event will not return, at least for the foreseeable future.

That shift in position represents a hardening of council sentiment against Supercars, after a return to the city’s streets in 2025 was left on the table at last month’s council meeting.

The motion is all but certain to be carried given it has been lodged ahead of next week’s meeting by the city’s seven Labor councillors, who make for a majority on Newcastle City Council.

It would also be supported by the two Greens and, most likely, by Independent John Church, who represents the council ward in which the race track was located.

The motion reads that “given Council’s decision,” it should start “road and public domain restoration works in Newcastle East … prioritising the replacement of temporary pedestrian crossings with permanent infrastructure.”

Newcastle City Council would furthermore receive advice on progressing the removal of the permanent section of track, which links Turn 10 and the Turn 11 hairpin, per the Heritage Council approval for the event.

Planning for such works came to light earlier this month but no timeline over when they might take place was specified.

On the motion which has now been lodged, Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen says the “physical works” would “provide certainty to the Newcastle East community,” reports the Newcastle Herald.

Supercars CEO Shane Howard recently told the Speedcafe Newscast that efforts to save the Newcastle 500 delayed the release of the 2024 calendar, which finally occurred earlier this month after confirmation in late-October that the ‘Bathurst SuperFest’ will instead serve as the season-opener.

Lord Mayor and fellow Labor councillor Nuatali Nelmes had said as recently as September, when the fate of the 2024 Newcastle 500 hung in the balance, that the event was “very successful for Newcastle.”

However, council continued to drag its heels due to local anti-Supercars lobbying and elections which are due in September 2024, for the stated reason that the New South Wales state government funding on offer was for one year rather than five.

Premier Chris Minns, who led Labor back into office in late-March of this year, labelled that roadblock “nonsensical.”

Nevertheless, confirmation of the 2024 cancellation came on the following day and, while Supercars stated it was not giving up on Newcastle, its final fate appears to have been sealed.

The council meeting takes place on Tuesday, November 28.