OUTGOING NSW Premier Mike Baird has been praised as an “absolute champion of Newcastle and the Hunter” by the Property Council of Australia’s Hunter director, Andrew Fletcher.
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“His legacy will be setting the platform for Newcastle to be a globally competitive city in the future,” Mr Fletcher said.
“What we’ve seen in Newcastle is an unprecedented level of government investment in infrastructure that has fuelled a $2 billion pipeline from the private sector.
“The number of new apartments being built in town, the Newcastle Urban Renewal Strategy and more are all directly related to government investment in infrastructure.
“You can really point to the day Minister Brad Hazzard stood in City Hall and announced the Urban Renewal Strategy as the day where the planning sector had enough confidence to invest in Newcastle.
“Once the decision was made to truncate the heavy rail line and there was a clear vision for the east end, Civic and the west end, once we had that level of certainty after decades of flip flopping and petty politics, that is the point where the city has started to see new jobs and new growth.”
Mr Fletcher said he did not believe the end of the Baird era would mean a slowing in the region’s rejuvenation.
“It’s been a great thing not only for Newcastle but the whole Hunter to have an advocate, but there is now enough momentum within the city that this process will be ongoing for many years,” he said.
“The key thing for the Hunter now is to ensure things like stage two of the light rail – extending it from Wickham to Broadmeadow and on to the university – is done quickly to maximise the benefit we got from the initial investment.
“There are plenty of good things on the way – like the cruise ship terminal, innovation hub, V8 supercars – that are locked and loaded and they won’t change because the political leader has changed.
“He was a leader with a strong platform for jobs and growth and it’s up to the next leader to carry that on.
“It’s also very important for the local members, even thought they are in opposition, to have the ear of the government and whoever the new Premier will be and have a constructive relationship with them.”
Mr Fletcher said it was also important for the government to “stay on mission” with initiatives outlined in the Hunter Regional Plan.
“It suggested a new role for the Hunter Development Corporation in having control and co-ordination of infrastructure across the region,” he said.
“The government needs to make sure the hard-edged accountability measures are enforced.”
Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
