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City of Newcastle councillors voted last November to reinstall permanent roundabouts and raised pedestrian crossings on the Newcastle East Street Circuit route after failing to agree on a new contract for the Supercars event.
The works are taken as a tangible commitment that the Newcastle 500 will not be back, with the city’s Labor majority of councillors having turned on the event after a long-running campaign by East End residents.
The first part of the project is the roundabout at what was Turn 1, the intersection of Watt Street (the uphill straight) and Wharf Road (pit straight), which had been replaced by temporary installations ahead of the inaugural, 2017 Newcastle 500.
Council had announced details of the works in February, with the first stage also including a permanent roundabout at the intersection of Shortland Esplanade and Zaara Street, which formed the Turn 7 ninety-degree left-hander in front of Newcastle Beach (pictured below).
The four potential Liberal Party lord mayoral candidates are all said to have expressed support for the return of Supercars to Newcastle East in a recent debate.
Among those four are incumbent councillor Callum Pull, who voted against the roadworks in last November’s meeting.
He argued that night, “I don’t see the need to permanently kill off an event in Newcastle when both the state government and Supercars have left the door open and have offered what council said it wanted, being negotiations on a long-term deal.”
Cr Pull also noted the irony that yet more roadworks will be undertaken after extensive construction/reconstruction in preparation for Supercars just seven years ago, which also included upgrades to existing utilities and structures which have facilitated other civic projects such as the ‘Bathers Way’ walk along the city’s southern coastline.
“The pedestrian crossings, the roundabouts that are currently there, they still work, and spending more money on one of the best-maintained roads in Newcastle, when we still have roads in the Western Suburbs that don’t even have guttering, to me is just wasteful,” he added.
Ironically, Cr Jenny Barrie was also among the four who reportedly expressed support for the return of the Newcastle 500 despite voting for the roadworks.
With elections due in September, there is no prospect of the event coming back in 2025, while its chances in the longer term still appear fairly slim given the major shift in power away from Labor which it would require.
The alternative is that those Labor councillors would change their mind on the event again, with just the two Greens having voted against the Newcastle 500 when the original contract was signed in 2016.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, of Labor, previously declared the Newcastle 500 “very successful” for the city but it became politically risky given the concerted campaign against it from residents in council Ward 1 in which the circuit is located.
“Re-installing permanent infrastructure demonstrates to the community that after four successful Newcastle 500 events, which delivered an estimated economic output for the city of $36 million per event, City of Newcastle has responded to community feedback and is committed to moving in a different direction going forward,” said Deputy Lord Mayor and Ward 1 Labor councillor Declan Clausen in announcing details of the roadworks in February.
“The Newcastle 500 successfully achieved what it had intended to, in delivering unparalleled national and international exposure for our city and, as the city’s largest ever event, showcased Newcastle’s ability to host significant major events.
“It has since led to the city cementing its reputation as a premier tourism and major events destination, including by helping attract acts like Pink, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, and festivals such as Groovin the Moo [since cancelled by organisers], and we look forward to continuing to secure new events as a key economic and tourism driver for the region.”
The roadworks take in 15 sites (See list below) but do not include the only permanent section of the circuit, built to create the run into the Turn 11 hairpin in the historic ‘Camp Shortland’ area, the removal of which was a condition of heritage approval for the event.
According to council, “Work to remediate Camp Shortland will be undertaken separately given the ownership complexity of the area.
“Camp Shortland is owned by the NSW Government with no lease in place to City of Newcastle.
“Despite this, City of Newcastle is responsible for the remediation under a direction from Heritage NSW.”
Plans for the Camp Shortland site will be firmed up once Stage 1 roadworks are complete.
The Repco Supercars Championship opened for 2024 at the Bathurst 500 after the protracted talks over Newcastle which resulted in its cancellation, although it is likely to kick off at a different venue again in 2025.
Roadworks at Watt Street/Wharf Road commenced last night and are set to last at least eight weeks.
Newcastle East Street Circuit roadworks sites
- Watt Street & Wharf Road – roundabout
- Watt Street & Hunter Street – crossings
- Watt Street & King Street – crossing
- Watt Street, Shortland Esplanade, Church Street – intersection
- Shortland Esplanade – South Newcastle crossing
- Shortland Esplanade – Newcastle Beach crossings
- Shortland Esplanade & Zaara Street – roundabout and crossing
- Scott Street & Zaara Street – crossing
- Scott Street & Parnell Place – intersection and refuge
- Parnell Place – crossing
- Nobbys Road – crossing and traffic calming
- Nobbys Road & Wharf Road – alignment and refuge
- Horseshoe Beach Road – crossing
- Wharf Road & Horseshoe Beach Road – intersection
- Wharf Road – crossing and car park
