Newcastle 500 future up in the air after council survey

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 22 August 2023

The fate of Supercars new season-opening event, the Newcastle 500, is up in the air after the community had a mixed say in a vital council survey.

With the current contract of the race, which was first held in 2017, ending after this year’s event held in March, negotiations over a new agreement between Supercars, NSW Government and City of Newcastle are ongoing.

Whilst Supercars is pushing to keep racing at the seaside street circuit for another five years after the first Newcastle 500 in four years was greeted by strong crowds, Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the city council will have the “final decision” on the event’s future.

The biggest factor behind the City of Newcastle’s decision making process was a Community Consultation Strategy.

After receiving 10,998 respondents through an online survey and a further 490 taking part over the phone, the results are in and do not bode greatly for the future of the race.

The return of Newcastle this year also marked the ignition of the Gen3 era. Image: Peter Norton

Just 37 percent of Newcastle residents who took part in the online survey are in favour of the street race taking place for the next five years.

Although a more promising figure of 55 percent were in support of the Supercars event over the phone, the overwhelmingly greater sample size in the online survey means the smaller figure of support paints the biggest picture.

The least amount of support came from residents in “Wards 1 and 2” which were the locations closest to the track and the most disrupted from the event.

However, there was much greater support for the race in “Ward 4” which was the furthest away, west of the city.

Both phone and online survey respondents were overwhelmingly in favour of the race, voting 66 and 67 percent respectively.

It was a similar, but more even story across the Newcastle business community where 110 voted on the phone and 1,906 were surveyed online.

The future of the Newcastle 500 could be determined by the City of Newcastle council. Image: Peter Norton

Overall 59 percent were in favour of the race over the phone, but this figure reduced to 41 percent online.

Once again those in “Ward 1” were least in favour, but in “Ward 4” businesses felt strongly about seeing Supercars in Newcastle again with more than 80 percent of both phone and online respondents showing their support.

Many felt the biggest benefit of the Newcastle 500 was its promotion of the New South Wales city as a tourist destination, but believed the biggest setback was the disruption to affected residents and businesses near the track.

Although the City of Newcastle has spent months collating all the information, there were some drawbacks to the online survey.

One of the biggest was the “unusual” amount of survey respondents in the “Ward 1” section.

A total of 964 survey responses were collated from the Newcastle East region which had a population of 1,061 in 2021.

This means the report described it as “unusual to receive this number of responses relative to the population size (and) it is likely some used incorrect postcodes or made multiple submissions”.

After 2019, the Newcastle 500 was not seen for another four years due to COVID-19 dramas.

It was also reported 1,979 individuals were blocked from doubling up.

However, Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp told the NEWCASTLE HERALD he will support the results from the survey.

In a worrying statement for Supercars fans, he said he will be supporting the results during negotiations with the NSW Government.

“The majority of respondents have indicated they do not want the Supercars event being held in the city,” Cakanthorp told the NEWCASTLE HERARLD. “I will be supporting that view when communicating with the NSW Government.”

Supercars has also provided a statement following the revelation of the results.

Supercars made their debut in Newcastle with practice today - Photo: Dirk Klynsmith

The first ever Newcastle 500 was held in 2017.

A Supercars spokesperson confirmed discussions are “progressing” with the 2024 calendar starting to take shape following the announcement of New Zealand’s return at Taupo.

“Discussions are ongoing and are progressing toward an official decision on the future of the Newcastle 500,” said a Supercars spokesperson.

“The goal is to ensure a positive outcome for all parties and further updates and details will be communicated in due course.”

Main image by Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography

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