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THE Property Council’s Hunter chapter has taken the covers off its vision for Newcastle’s future, and there’s not a high-rise building in sight on a heavy rail corridor reserved mostly for a cycleway.
In a surprise move, to be launched formally on Friday, the Hunter’s peak development lobby group has focused on creating ‘‘world-class’’ public space and amenity along with ‘‘landmark attractions’’ that it says will put the city on the international tourist map.
It would also open up harbour-front parkland that would double the size of the existing Foreshore Park and include the likes of designated concert spaces, playgrounds and water parks.
Questions have been asked about how it will be funded, however, with the property council proposing a complex revenue-raising scheme used overseas to fund urban renewal projects.
The plan is a submission to the state government’s Revitalising Newcastle project at this stage and has been a collaboration of Hunter planners, urban designers, engineers and finance specialists over the past year.
Among the features of the plan, the former heavy rail corridor is almost entirely preserved for a cycleway between Wickham and the city’s East End.
It also recommends diverting Wharf Road over the old rail corridor near Queens Wharf and onto Scott Street, opening up a huge ‘‘harbour square’’ to the waterfront. It includes a redevelopment of the heritage-listed Newcastle rail station buildings into a national Aboriginal cultural centre aimed at domestic and international tourists.
It also flags the idea of turning the existing Foreshore Park into a festival or concert area with permanent stage and sound equipment.
‘‘Why would you have Neil Diamond playing up in the Hunter Valley when he could be playing right here in the city?’’ the property council’s regional director Andrew Fletcher said.
The park, and its extension to Queens Wharf could also house the likes of playgrounds, chill-out spaces, skate parks, picnic areas and huge water features.
The plan also proposes new pedestrian links and parklands be built between the harbour and Hunter Street – most notably, a new link between Hunter Street Mall and Queens Wharf, a wide and plaza-like connection between Civic Theatre and Lee Wharf, and another from the end of Darby Street to Argyle House.
Notably absent from the proposal is any sort of high-rise building. While the property council said new commercial and residential buildings will likely be built near Honeysuckle and the planned Wickham transport interchange, heights should be kept low and not above three storeys on any development in the East End.
Mr Fletcher said the proposal should silence the development industry’s critics, taking a swipe at the ‘‘vitriol and online trolling’’ directed at himself and others who have been labelled ‘‘greedy developers’’.
It also showed that the private sector was willing to ‘‘dream big’’ and lead the city’s revitalisation in ways others weren’t.
‘‘The truth is that for decades, that rail corridor has been under utilised, leaking value and scaring away capital,’’ he said. ‘‘Creating landmark projects and environments where people live, work, shop and play are core business for developers.’’
Also included in the property council’s vision is a broad integrated transport plan which capitalises on the planned light rail and adds a much larger ferry service on the harbour. A ferry, it said, should run a regular loop of the harbour with stops at Wickham, Carrington, Stockton and several sites on the harbour’s city side.
DWP Suters urban designer Angus Rose, who formed part of the proposal’s design team, said UrbanGrowth’s original proposals had been ‘‘too narrow’’ in their focus.
‘‘We chose to look more broadly, incorporating Foreshore Park and maximising every opportunity to connect the city to the harbour,’’ he said.
While UrbanGrowth, the Premier’s Office and other government agencies have been briefed on the proposal, those groups have been reluctant to comment because the property council’s submission is just one of many lodged during UrbanGrowth’s public consultation process. Urbangrowth and the government are still sifting through all proposals, incorporating some of those ideas into their own before a final plan is released for further public comment.