Category: Newcastle News

An architectural legacy that spans more than half a century has earned Brian Suters AM the city’s highest honour.

The award-winning architect has been named a Freeman of the City in recognition of his significant contribution to Newcastle’s built form and enduring commitment to mentoring the next generation.

Fittingly, the honour was conferred within the walls of the updated Civic Playhouse, which Brian designed for City of Newcastle in 2004.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said Brian’s work had helped shape the way we see Newcastle today and would continue to be appreciated for generations to come.

“The mark Brian has left on our built form, and our cultural landscape, has quite literally defined part of the city’s look and feel,” Cr Nelmes said.

“His legacy is evident throughout the city, from our striking Brutalist former City Administration Centre, which has recently been reborn as Newcastle’ first five-star hotel, to the modern surrounds of the Civic Playhouse and the remarkable Bauhaus-influence design of his own former family home on Wolfe Street, which won the prestigious Blacket Award for Architecture in 1980.

“Naming Brian a Freeman of the City is a well-deserved honour that recognised the significance of his many architectural contributions to Newcastle and his ongoing commitment to mentoring younger generations of architects.”

Born in Sydney in 1937, Brian and his family returned to his mother’s home city of Newcastle during World War II when he was aged five.

Educated at Hamilton Primary School and Newcastle Boys High School, he later studied at Newcastle Technical College and graduated from the University of NSW, having been awarded the University Medal on the completion of his architecture studies.

After winning the Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship, he moved overseas with his wife Kay and lived in London and Europe for two-and-a-half years before returning to Newcastle to pursue his architecture career.

Brian acknowledged the role City of Newcastle played in his career and said he was thrilled, more than half a century later, to be honoured as a Freeman of the City.

“Newcastle has been the main spring of my success as an architect and the basis of my community participation,” Brian said.

“Back in 1964 when I returned to Australia from living overseas, my wife and I chose to return to Newcastle to pursue our careers and family life. It was a critical decision and now this honour vindicates that decision.

“My career took off with the architectural work on the Civic Fountain where I worked with the competition winner, sculptor Margel Hinder and her artist husband Frank Hinder.

“He strongly emphasised the need in architecture for collaboration – from concept to completion.

“It marked the beginning of a long period of major works for City of Newcastle and on the back of this our practice acquired many other significant commissions.

“At the time of my retirement in 2010, Suters Architects had offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns, and associations with international practices in Malaysia, UK and France.

“Our practice would not have achieved this recognition without my beloved Newcastle, so I am honoured and delighted to be named a Freeman of the City.”

Brian joins an esteemed list of 14 other Novocastrians to be awarded the City’s highest honour including writer, philanthropist and historian Vera Deacon, community volunteer Howard Mole and Surfest co-founder Warren Smith.

Police are appealing for assistance to locate a boy missing from the Newcastle area.

Cerise Elmes, aged 13, was last seen leaving a home in Wallsend about 7pm on Tuesday 15 March 2022.

Police were alerted and officers from Newcastle City Police District have been conducting inquiries into his whereabouts.

Concerns are held for his welfare due to his young age and a number of medical conditions.

Police have been told Cerise may be travelling with a woman known to him in a silver Mitsubishi Pajero with NSW registration CI44ED.

Following inquiries, investigators believe he was on Mid North Coast the following day and may be heading towards Queensland.

Cerise is described as being of Caucasian appearance, between 160cm to 165cm tall, with a thin build, black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone who has seen Cerise, or believes they know his whereabouts, is urged to contact police.

For those already registered for the Hunter Memory Walk & Jog event, it’s just one week until it’s time to get on your marks, get set and meet Dementia Australia at the starting line!

For those yet to sign up, the good news is there’s still time to register, either online at www.memorywalk.com.au before midnight on Friday, or at the event site on the day itself.

Dementia Australia CEO Maree McCabe AM is encouraging as many local Hunter residents as possible to support the event, which will take place on Sunday 27 March at Speers Point Park.

“We are so lucky to have enjoyed such outstanding community support at our Memory Walk & Jog events across the country over the years. This support has allowed us to bring the event to an ever-growing number of locations,” Ms McCabe said.

“As we prepare to host the Memory Walk & Jog in the Hunter for another successful year, we hope everyone will consider joining us to raise our national target of $1.7 million, which we hope to achieve through the participation of 11,500 people across the series.”

The Hunter event is one of 19 events scheduled at various locations around the country in 2022. Participants can register as an individual or an entire team, to remember a loved one with dementia, or in support of a loved one who is currently living with the condition.

“The course is family-friendly, and no matter your age or level of fitness we encourage you to participate and join in the fun. Everyone is welcome, and together we can make the world look brighter for people with dementia,” Ms McCabe said.

There are still spots available for the 2km, 8km or timed 8km course, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to register for this fun-filled day out, for an important cause.

The safety and wellbeing of Memory Walk & Jog participants, volunteers and staff is Dementia Australia’s top priority at these events. The team is constantly monitoring the evolving situation with COVID-19, and remains in communication with the relevant federal, state and local authorities.

A robust COVID-safe plan has been tailored for each event, and will be adapted as needed.

Find out about the Hunter and the other events planned across Australia at www.memorywalk.com.au

And remember, if you can’t attend one of the planned events in the series, why not consider organising your own group or individual walk, jog, or run with a My Way or Walk & Jog Impossible Challenge? More details can be found at www.memorywalk.com.au

Dementia Australia is the source of trusted information, education and services for the estimated half a million Australians living with dementia, and the almost 1.6 million people involved in their care. We advocate for positive change and support vital research. We are here to support people impacted by dementia, and to enable them to live as well as possible. No matter how you are impacted by dementia or who you are, we are here for you.     

   For support, please contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500. An interpreter service is available and the Helpline is open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday excluding public holidays. The National Dementia Helpline is funded by the Australian Government. People looking for information can also visit dementia.org.au      

Two teenage boys have been charged after allegedly deliberately lighting a fire at a school in the Hunter region overnight.

Emergency services were called to the school on Greer Street, Raymond Terrace, just after 10.30pm (Sunday 20 March 2022), after reports two demountable buildings were engulfed by flames.

Crews from Fire and Rescue NSW attended and extinguished the blaze, which had destroyed the buildings.

On inspection of other buildings within the school grounds, officers attached to Port Stephens-Hunter Police District observed a number of classrooms had been broken into and vandalised, causing significant damage.

A crime scene was established, which was examined by specialist forensic officers.

Following inquiries, two teenage boys – aged 14 and 15 – were arrested about 1am today (Monday 21 March 2022) and taken to Raymond Terrace Police Station.

They have both been charged with aggravated break and enter commit serious indictable offence, destroy/damage property in company by fire, and destroy/damage property in company.

Both teenagers were refused bail to appear at a children’s court later today (Monday 21 March 2022).

Newcastle residents can help prevent soft plastics from going to waste through a new, innovative kerbside recycling program.

City of Newcastle will become just the second council in Australia to take part in the Curby Soft Plastics Program, after an initial roll-out on the Central Coast last year proved popular.

The innovative initiative, which is run in conjunction with Australian recyclers iQ Renew and CurbCycle, gives residents a free, home-based option to recycle clean, soft plastics that are not able to be placed loosely in their yellow-lid kerbside bin, including shopping bags, chip packets, bread bags and bubble wrap.

Currently, these items can only be recycled through community drop-off sites such as the REDcycle bins found at selected supermarkets. The limited number of locations means that around 94 per cent of soft plastics across Australia still end up in landfill or being disposed of as litter, causing significant damage to the environment and marine life.

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said the Curby Program would complement City of Newcastle’s suite of waste-recovery initiatives, which are all designed to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill.

“City of Newcastle is focussed on the delivery of programs, education and infrastructure that will increase our capabilities for the recycling and reuse of waste products and reduce the amount of resources going to landfill, including the proposed development of a local recycling facility at Summerhill to cater to the yellow lidded bin,” Cr Clausen said.

“By weight, soft plastics make up a small component of the household waste that ends up at the Summerhill Waste Management Centre. However, given their lightweight nature, they can sometimes be picked up by the wind and escape into the environment, where they pose a serious threat to our native animals and marine life.

“While reducing the amount of soft plastic we use is the best solution for our environment, this program ensures residents also have a more convenient means of recycling their plastics, keeping them out of landfill and giving them a second life through their processing and conversion into a new material, which can be reused to make everything from low carbon cement to new plastic products and plastic film.

“There’s no better way to celebrate Global Recycling Day today than by signing up to take part in this innovative new program.”

The Curby Soft Plastics Program has over 11,000 participants on the Central Coast and collected more than 40 tonnes of soft plastics to date, which is the equivalent of about seven million plastics bags.

The free program will be rolled out in two stages in Newcastle, with applications open from today for the first 7,500 households to register before it is expanded to all local residents in the second half of the year.

iQ Renew CEO Danial Gallagher said the success of the program so far demonstrates the need for convenient, kerbside recycling solutions.

“iQ Renew is a proud early adopter of the Curby program and we’re pleased to facilitate this innovation on behalf of the City of Newcastle,” Mr Gallagher said.

“Seeing thousands of Curby tagged bags arrive at our Material Recovery Facility is incredibly exciting and shows that our community wants to do more and do better when it comes to recycling.”

CurbCycle Director Gordon Ewart said that the City of Newcastle would be the first council to have trialled the Curby Program for coffee pods and now be using the yellow-lid bin for soft plastics.

“The Curby Program brings together councils, recyclers and leading brands that are looking to provide better solutions for community recycling to divert from landfill and have new products re-made in Australia,” Mr Ewart said.

“We are developing new features to ‘CurbyIt’ and we are delighted that we will now be able to make these available for the City of Newcastle community.”

Registered participants will receive bright yellow CurbyBags, which they can fill with clean, soft plastic packaging before tying them shut, attaching a special CurbyTag, which they scan with the CurbyApp before placing the bag in their yellow-lid bin for regular fortnightly collection.

Soft plastics must be inside a specially tagged CurbyBag to be recycled via the kerbside collection and must not be placed loose in yellow-lid bins. This allows them to be separated from other materials and prevents the contamination of other recyclables.

Interested households can register at www.curbyit.com/softplastics or by downloading the Curby App from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

City of Newcastle (CN) welcomes the decision by Heritage NSW to dismiss a request for an Interim Heritage Order lodged by a local community group. This dismissal means the long-awaited restoration of the Newcastle Ocean Baths can now proceed without delay.

Heritage NSW, in making its determination, noted that the Newcastle Ocean Baths construction is similar to that of all State Heritage listed baths within New South Wales. The determination noted that the construction method of pool floors for these types of ocean baths, such as sand, concrete or rock, is not integral to the heritage values for ocean baths in New South Wales. As such, Heritage NSW has determined that there is no threat to the heritage values of Newcastle Ocean Baths in undertaking the works to renew the pool and promenades.

The City hopes Heritage NSW’s decision to refuse the Interim Heritage Order brings an end to the continual stunts and misinformation by the group Friends of Newcastle Ocean Baths who have for more than two years attempted to prevent this much needed upgrade from occurring.

As the City has repeatedly made clear, the edge of the pool must be raised due to rising sea levels. Unless this happens, the Baths will be excessively battered during ocean storms and simply won’t survive another 100 years.

Without concreting the rock floor that currently exists at the Newcastle Oceans Baths, the increase in the height of the pool edge would make it too deep for most people to be able to walk the Newcastle Ocean Baths. By placing a relatively thin concrete base over the rock floor, the existing depth of the pool can be retained. The 15cm increase in the edge of the pool will not have any impact on sand’s ability to continue to flow in from the ocean, meaning pool users will continue to be able to walk on the sandy bottom as they have for the past 100 years.

If for some reason there was a delay in sufficient sand flowing into the pool, the City has already committed that it will transport sand to the pool floor.

CN worked closely with the community to develop the design for the stage one upgrade which included key heritage considerations. We look forward to completing the stage one work next year and to handing back to the community an oceans baths that exists for benefit of our entire community.

A proposal to increase the capacity of City of Newcastle’s new organics processing facility will fast track its ability to accept food scraps by four years, diverting an additional 24,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.

A report to be tabled at this month’s Council meeting recommends expanding the facility’s capacity to 50,000 tonnes per annum at the initial construction stage, which would allow it to process both garden and food organics from its first year of operation.

The fully enclosed facility, which will be constructed at the Summerhill Waste Management Centre, uses new technology to process the waste into compost for reuse.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the facility would deliver a more sustainable approach to organic waste and resource recovery in line with community expectations.

“Delivering this facility is in line with the objectives in our adopted Climate Action Plan and our draft Sustainable Waste Strategy, and meets the expectations of our community, who are supportive of measures to divert waste from landfill,” Cr Nelmes said.

“This facility would allow processing of more than double the organic waste that we currently receive, and importantly, it enables us to process and transform that waste into compost for reuse instead of sending it all to landfill.”

City of Newcastle currently receives around 23,000 tonnes of garden organic waste at Summerhill each year, which is then transported more than 90km to Ravensworth for further processing, however food and organic waste generation has significant seasonal peaks which the facility must cater to.

There is also expected to be a significant increase in organics received once residents take advantage of the new collection service. A key learning was from Lake Macquarie City Council, who reported much larger increases in organics than anticipated, placing stress on the capacity of its Awaba facility.

The proposed facility at Summerhill will instead allow onsite processing of up to 50,000 tonnes of food and garden organic waste every year in a completely enclosed facility designed to contain any associated noise or odour.

The facility was previously designed with a staged approach, beginning with a capacity of 32,600 tonnes to process green waste only, with an additional upgrade needed before it could cater for food waste and population growth in its fourth year of operation.

Increasing the capacity of the organics facility now also ensures City of Newcastle will fulfill the requirements of the NSW Government’s Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041, which requires local councils to deliver food and garden organics collection by 2030, with major commercial generators required to have food diversion by 2025.

Subject to the expanded capacity being approved by the Council, a development application for the facility will be lodged in April. Two additional development applications are also being submitted for site preparation and relocation of the existing materials processing operations, and bulk earthworks to ready the site for the new facility.

“Community input into this project is an important part of the planning process,” Cr Nelmes said.

“We consulted with the nearby community in late 2021 and heard that most respondents were extremely supportive of the proposed facility. As we move forward, the views of the community will continue to inform our approach for this important project.”

The development application for the organics facility is expected to go on public exhibition in mid-2022.

The humble library card has been transformed into an after-hours key allowing accessing to Lambton Library for the city’s more than 100,000 library members.

Using technology that has only just arrived in Australia, Lambton Library will this weekend become the city’s first to offer library members access seven days a week even when their visit is outside of staffed hours.

The Library will re-open to the public this weekend following an extensive renovation that has delivered modern and accessible facilities while also returning the building’s original heritage character to the front façade.

Image: City of Newcastle Project Manager Beau Brazel, Newcastle Libraries Manager Digital Services & Innovation Briana Elliott, City of Newcastle Manager Libraries & Learning Suzie Gately, Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes with Lambton Residents Group representatives Tammy Russell, Angela Smith, Louise Evans and Robert Watson at the renewed Lambton Library.

Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said enhanced community access follows the installation of OPEN+ technology, which allows library members to visit Lambton Library even when the facility is not staffed.

“We know the local community loves the nostalgia that comes with visiting Lambton’s quaint neighbourhood library, however prior to its closure during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, the facility was open just two days each week,” Cr Nelmes said.

“Thanks to an innovative new service model, we’ve transformed Lambton Library into a modern and accessible community space, which utilises specialist OPEN+ technology to welcome library members from 7am to 9pm, seven days a week.

“The improved service will allow community members to borrow and return books, use public computers and free Wi-Fi, and access meeting spaces simply by using their library membership during the extended hours of operation.

“I’m looking forward to welcoming our community to Newcastle Libraries’ free launch events this weekend, with an official community re-opening featuring tours of the renovated space on Friday evening and a family fun day on Saturday morning.”

Saturday’s family-friendly event will offer children’s activities including story time, craft, giant games and a scavenger hunt, as well as Lambton Local History sessions.

The OPEN+ technology will enable members to use their library membership number and barcode to access Lambton Library and an onsite CCTV system will maintain the safety of patrons during accessible hours. In addition, a library staff member will be onsite Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays between 2pm and 4pm to assist members and manage the collection.

The installation of OPEN+ technology at Lambton Library is an objective of the Library Strategy 2019-2029 and was made possible by City of Newcastle’s Smart City program, while funding from a State Library of NSW Local Priority Grant supported the internal fit-out.

During the library’s closure period, City of Newcastle also completed a restoration of the library’s front façade and entrance to the building including reinstatement of the original bullnose verandah and heritage details.

Lambton Residents Group supported and advocated for the restoration of Lambton Library and member and community historian Robert Watson said that the group is pleased to have greater access to the much-loved community facility.

“Lambton Library holds great historical significance within our community and it’s fantastic to see the beautiful building’s heritage façade reflect its original style ahead of re-opening,” said Mr Watson.

“Additionally, the innovative technology will allow not only Lambton Residents Group, but all library members, to benefit from free access to a wonderful community space for meetings, work and study or just a quiet place to seek refuge with a great read.”

Lambton Library was constructed in 1887 and was initially used as the Lambton Council Chamber before being converted into a library in 1950.

Bookings for the free community celebration on Friday evening can be made by phoning Newcastle Libraries or visiting newcastle.nsw.gov.au/library.

Image: September 1890 Lambton Council Chambers building now home to Lambton Library, from Newcastle Libraries Collection.

A police officer has been charged following a critical incident investigation after a motorcyclist was seriously injured in a crash at Lake Macquarie last year.

About 4.40pm on Monday 4 October 2021, emergency services were called to Mandalong Road near Deaves Road, Mandalong, after reports two motorcycles – including a marked New South Wales Police motorcycle – had collided.

A 69-year-old man was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital with serious leg injuries, while a 36-year-old male senior constable – who was on-duty at the time – also suffered serious injuries and was taken to John Hunter Hospital.

A crime scene was established by Lake Macquarie Police District officers, with a critical incident investigation launched by Tuggerah Lakes Police District.

Following extensive inquiries, the senior constable – attached to Traffic & Highway Patrol Command – was issued a Future Court Attendance Notice today (Tuesday 15 March 2022), for the offence of negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

He is due to appear at Toronto Local Court on Monday 2 May 2022.