Category: Newcastle News

Detectives have commenced an investigation after a man was stabbed several times in Newcastle overnight.
About 9.35pm (Monday 14 June 2021), emergency services were called to the Newcastle Ocean Baths on Shortland Esplanade, after reports a man had been injured.
Officers from Newcastle City Police District attended and found an 18-year-old man suffering multiple stab wounds to the back.
He was treated at the scene by passers-by and NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to John Hunter Hospital in a serious but stable condition; his injuries are not considered life-threatening.
A crime scene has been established, which will be examined by specialist forensic police, and detectives have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The man was described as wearing dark clothing with his face covered.
As inquiries continue, investigators are urging anyone who may have dashcam footage from Shortland Esplanade between 9pm and 10pm or who may have seen or heard anything suspicious in the nearby area to contact Newcastle Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A 65-year-old man reported missing from the Lake Macquarie area has been found safe.
Thanks to everyone who shared our appeal for assistance.

Detectives have commenced an investigation following the fatal shooting of a woman near Newcastle yesterday.
Just after 8pm (Wednesday 9 June 2021), emergency services were called to a home on Queen Street, Stockton, following reports of a shooting.
A woman died at the scene and is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be aged 61.
Police have been told the woman answered her front door before she was shot.
Officers from Newcastle City Police District established a crime scene, which is being examined by specialist forensic police.
Detectives formed Strike Force Backhouse to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
As inquiries continue, anyone who may have CCTV or dashcam footage from the surrounding area is urged to contact Newcastle Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A man has died following a single-vehicle crash in the Hunter region today.
Just before 5.30am (Friday 11 June 2021), emergency services were called to Italia Road near the Pacific Highway, Balickera, about 13km north of Raymond Terrace, after reports of a crash.
Occupants of a house nearby located a vehicle that had left the road and crashed into trees.
The male driver was treated at the scene but died a short time later. He is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be aged 26.
A crime scene has been established, which will be examined by specialist forensic police.
Officers from Port-Stephens Hunter Police District have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.

City of Newcastle is inviting the community to identify the barriers to social inclusion as it develops a new Social Strategy that will provide the foundations for a range of planning decisions to make Newcastle a more liveable and inclusive community.
Over the next three-months, the City will host community engagement activities such as workshops, community events, festivals and forums to ensure Novocastrians have multiple opportunities to share their voices and help shape the new Strategy.
The new Strategy will outline a vision and guiding principles for an inclusive Newcastle along with the role that City of Newcastle and its partners can take to lead and empower connected and liveable communities, with emphasis on vulnerable community members.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said City of Newcastle is committed to making the city a more liveable and inclusive community for all Novocastrians to thrive in, by increasing social inclusion and creating more opportunities for community connection.
“As the region grows, challenges such as affordable housing, youth unemployment, and an ageing population emerging, we want to make sure that everyone feels able to grow with it and are acknowledged as integral members of our vibrant community. An inclusive community reduces the social and economic cost of mental health and wellbeing as well as being an important determinant of better educational outcomes for our children,” Cr Nelmes said.
“City of Newcastle values the contributions made by all people and believes that diversity strengthens the city. Through targeted services, programs and facilities we can provide all Novocastrians with equal opportunities to reach their full potential and take an active part in our community to the betterment of the city.”
Newcastle Councillor Carol Duncan said the new Social Strategy is about treating all people with respect.
“Newcastle has changed a lot over the years and continues to undergo significant change and growth. Today, our city is more diverse than ever, with people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, beliefs, socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation, and disabilities,” Cr Duncan said.
“The City recognises the dignity and worth of all people by treating communities fairly and equitably. The new Social Strategy will outline a framework for treating all Novocastrians with respect, to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage amongst our community.
“Hearing from a diverse cross-section of our community is critical to ensuring the Social Strategy reflects everyone, so the planning decisions we make support all Novocastrians. “Individually, we may be very different but, together, we can all call Newcastle home.”
Visit www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/yoursay until August 2021.

Newcastle Museum has beaten some of the most prestigious cultural institutions across the country to earn the industry’s highest national accolade, the National MAGNA.
The innovative social history exhibition, 1X4, which was curated from Newcastle Museum’s own extensive collection, was named the overall winner at the 2021 Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNA) held in Canberra last night.

The City of Newcastle facility initially took out the Temporary or Travelling Exhibition Level 1 (for project budgets under $20,000) before being selected as the most impressive entry overall from 42 finalists shortlisted across the 16 categories. Newcastle Art Gallery’s On Stillness exhibition was also highly commended by judges in the Temporary or Travelling Exhibition Level 1.
The Museum’s award followed an announcement earlier in the day that its Director, Julie Baird, had been selected as the Vice President of the National Council for the Australian Museums and Galleries Association Incorporated (AMaGA).
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said it was a great honour for Newcastle Museum to become the first regional, Local Government-run museum to win the national award in its own right.
“Newcastle Museum is on the cutting edge of contemporary museum practice, creating insightful and immersive ways to interpret and preserve our city’s fascinating history,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Museum Director Julie Baird and the City of Newcastle staff involved in this exhibition should feel proud of their achievements, which saw them beat renowned institutions including the National Museum of Australia, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the Australian National Maritime Museum, whose exhibitions had budgets in excess of half a million dollars each.
“This is one of the most significant cultural awards Newcastle has ever won and is testimony to the skill and creativity of Julie and her City of Newcastle colleagues.
“Julie’s appointment as Vice President of the national council also reflects her expertise, innovative leadership and years of dedication to the Australian galleries, libraries, archives, and museums sector. It acknowledges the importance of Local Government funded museums in the cultural landscape.”
Ms Baird said Newcastle Museum’s exhibition was a massive team effort, conceived and created locally in less than a year amongst the uncertainty of COVID-19. Designed as a travelling exhibition, it is now going on tour, with Randwick City Council’s La Perouse Museum as its first stop in September.
“1X4 is an innovative, collection-rich, social history exhibition and website exploring the multiplicity of narratives each object can tell,” Ms Baird said.
“It has attracted widespread interest, with three museums already adding it to their touring exhibition program and requests for it through until 2023, while major UK institution The Victoria & Albert Museum tweeted about the innovation of the exhibition and local government-funded museums in Canada have been in contact and are interested in creating their own version of the 1X4 concept.
“It was a fantastic effort by all those involved in its creation, and we are so proud and shocked to have been acknowledged with the National MAGNA award.”
Newcastle Museum completed a clean sweep in Canberra last night after the 1X4 website also won the Program Website – Level A award at the Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards 2021, which celebrate excellence and quality in design of publications and multimedia produced for the museums sector.

Sourdough making classes, quirky art workshops and sight-seeing bike rides with a twist will be served up to tourists as part of a push to expand Newcastle’s tourism experiences.
Fifteen Newcastle businesses have been supported by City of Newcastle to develop and promote new products and experiences to a wider market under its Product Mentoring Development Program.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said increasing the number of bespoke bookable experiences in Newcastle is one of the priority initiatives under the City’s Destination Management Plan.
“Consultation with industry and experts during the development of our Destination Management Plan identified that Newcastle was lacking bookable tourism products and experiences, which are vital to sustaining and growing Newcastle’s visitor economy,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Our Product Development Mentoring Program provided 15 local businesses with training and business to business mentoring on how to develop tourism products that leveraged Newcastle’s unique offering in a way that would appeal to visitors from outside the region and abroad.
“The results have been fantastic, with new tourism products including the launch of a new business called Newy Rides. Other beneficiaries such as Baked Uprising and Mitch Revs Gallery explored new opportunities in the tourism market to enhance their core offerings. Urban Hum refined their tourism experience while other businesses have expanded their operations, employed new staff and relaunched products, which were put on hold by COVID-19.
“City of Newcastle has contributed $150,000 to these 15 local businesses to help them better prepare to meet visitor demands now and in the future.”
Cr Nelmes said program facilitators, Sparrowly Group, will provide another 10 businesses with training with funding from City of Newcastle’s NewSkills Program.
“Investing in the tourism industry is about building a thriving, diverse and robust economy, while also helping to reposition Newcastle as a premier tourism destination with focuses on events, experiences, natural assets and cultural heritage,” Cr Nelmes said.
The 15 participants in the initial program are:

• Baked Uprising
• Blackbutt Reserve
• Christ Church Cathedral
• CoastXP
• Earp Distilling Co
• Mitch Revs Gallery
• Newcastle Afoot
• Newcastle Backroad Tours
• Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club
• Newcastle Ghost Tours
• Newy Rides
• Nova Cruises
• The Lock-Up
• Underground Epicureans
• Urban Hum.

Kyle Liston from Baked Uprising said the program provided an invaluable insight into the opportunities available from the visitor economy as a non-traditional tourism operator.
“We’d never really thought of ourselves in the tourism market before, but this program allowed us to broaden our focus to think about the business in a different way,” Kyle said.
“Food tourism is a growing market in Newcastle’s offering as a destination. The program gave us the knowledge and confidence to develop a range of new experiences to be introduced in the future, from sourdough making workshops to intimate interactive experiences, showcasing Newcastle’s heart and soul as a city of makers, which in turn will encourage our customers to not only come back but bring their friends and visitors with them.”
To find out more, City of Newcastle have produced a two-minute video of the Product Development Mentoring Program.

A former Bunnings warehouse in Lake Macquarie will be transformed into the NSW Government’s second mass vaccination centre, further boosting the vaccine rollout across the state.
The mass vaccination centre will be located at 393 Pacific Hwy, Belmont with around 150 people to work on converting the site over six weeks.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the centre would have the capacity to administer up to 20,000 vaccines per week and is expected to open in mid-July.
“Our mass vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park has been a huge success, vaccinating more than 5,000 people a day already,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We are planning to replicate that model in the Hunter region, so we can quickly and safely vaccinate as many people as possible across NSW.”
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the centre would employ up to 100 nurses, 25 pharmacists or pharmacy technicians plus around 200 other support staff.
“The Newcastle community and indeed everyone across the Hunter New England Local Health District has been outstanding in presenting for COVID testing to help keep their loved ones safe,” Mr Hazzard said.
“More than half a million people to date have fronted for testing, so I am confident the community will register online to get vaccinated at this new centre, or with their GP, and encourage others to do the same.”
Michael DiRienzo, Chief Executive, Hunter New England Local Health District said he was delighted to host the state’s second mass vaccination centre in the Hunter.
“I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of our staff, and all the contractors, who are helping us to deliver this vaccination centre,” Mr DiRienzo said.
“It is no small task to transform an empty warehouse into a vaccination centre capable of inoculating thousands every day. It’s a great service you’re doing for our community.”
The Centre will administer both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccine, with bookings required.

City of Newcastle has engaged specialists to carry out an updated flood study of the Throsby, Styx, and Cottage Creek catchments, to enhance current floodplain management and mitigate future flood risks.
The aim of early engagement is to inform the community of the study, identify concerns, and to build on the existing depth of knowledge about flooding in Newcastle by talking to flood affected residents, businesses, and community groups.
Newcastle Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen said City of Newcastle is committed to building flood resilient communities for current and future generations and encourages the community to share their personal experiences of flooding in their local area.
“The Newcastle community has experienced the impact and extent of flooding across the Local Government Area, and it is important that flood intelligence from the community is captured and included within the study,” Cr Clausen said.
“The results of the flood study will inform the Flood Risk Management Plans and improve the quality of City of Newcastle’s flood risk planning.”
“Residents, businesses, and wider community groups are urged to share their personal experiences of flooding in their local area, to deliver the best possible outcomes from the study and to enable smart floodplain management.”
The Throsby, Styx, and Cottage Creek catchments cover an area of 51 km² across the eastern half of Newcastle’s Local Government Area, generally characterised as land east of John Hunter Hospital.
“The flood study aims to define the extent, depth, velocity and flood hazard in the Throsby, Styx and Cottage Creek floodplains,” Cr Clausen said.
“These areas have a long history of flooding and are being investigated as a combined flood study. These catchments are steep around their perimeter, but drain to low-lying, flat areas, where it is difficult for floodwaters to escape.
“These catchments all drain to Newcastle Harbour leaving them prone to inundation during east coast lows when heavy rainfall combines with elevated ocean levels.
“Updating the Throsby, Styx and Cottage Creek Flood Study is the first step in updating the Flood Risk Management planning for these catchments.”
City of Newcastle has received grant funding support from the Department of Primary Industry and Environment to complete the updated Throsby, Styx, and Cottage Creek Flood Study.
Visit newcastle.nsw.gov.au/yoursay by 5pm Friday 2 July 2021 to have your say.