Charlestown’s Mercia Buck, an arts’ advocate, said there was no suitable performing arts centre for the community in Lake Macquarie or Newcastle.

‘‘It’s something we should have as a mature society,’’ Ms Buck, a former Lake Macquarie councillor, said.

Ms Buck has put her plan to Lake Macquarie council.

It involves 600 tiered seats with quality sound and lighting, an orchestra pit, stage, dressing rooms and foyer.

She said such a centre should be built with federal infrastructure money.

Lake Macquarie mayor Greg Piper said the council’s significant financial problems meant now was not the time to ‘‘buy into that type of capital work, which would have ongoing operational costs’’.

‘‘We shouldn’t dismiss in the long term incorporating a performing arts space into a redeveloped council administration centre [at Speers Point],’’ Cr Piper said. ‘‘But that’s on the distant horizon and contingent on a host of things.’’

With a population of more than 200,000, Lake Macquarie needed a purpose-built centre, Ms Buck said.

She said the Warners Bay Performing Arts Centre, converted from a community hall, was substandard and inadequate. Other theatres in Lake Macquarie and Newcastle were ‘‘not up to scratch’’ or too big and expensive.

Lake Macquarie Dance Centre owner Debra McDonnell said a centre with better lighting and a bigger stage ‘‘would be fabulous’’.

‘‘It’s certainly something that we need,’’ Ms McDonnell said.