Interim chief executive officer Jeremy Bath says Newcastle City Council was upfront with the community last year about paying a licence fee for the city’s Supercars race.
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The Herald reported on Tuesday night that new Independent councillor Kath Elliott had asked council staff to confirm if the city was paying a fee to host the November event.
The Herald reported in October last year that minutes from a July 26, 2016, meeting showed the council had endorsed a “rights-fee agreement” with Destination NSW.
State government sources said at the time that the council sponsorship was about $1 million in cash and $1 million in kind.
The decision to pursue the race was taken in confidential session, and the report to councillors describing the deal remains confidential.
Mr Bath, who was appointed in April to replace Frank Cordingley, told the Herald on Wednesday that the existence of a licence fee should not be news to ratepayers and councillors.
“When the Supercars deal was announced more than 12 months ago, Newcastle City Council was upfront that a licensing fee securing the event would be paid to Destination NSW,” he said.
“Indeed, the Herald reported on this fee on several occasions, speculating incorrectly on the amount.
“Newcastle City Council disclosed the value of the licensing fee to the previous council to assist them in making a decision on whether to proceed with a bid for the Supercars race.
“The councillors' subsequent support for the race should be seen as an endorsement that the licensing fee was on terms considered favourable to our city.”
Mr Bath said both Destination NSW and Supercars had requested that the licensing fee remain commercial-in-confidence.
“This should be completely unsurprising and is standard business practice when negotiating a commercial agreement.”
The current council had been handed papers several weeks ago disclosing the value of the licensing fee.
“However, recognising that they have been given a tremendous amount of material during the past few weeks, we have today written to them highlighting the amount paid for the licensing fee,” Mr Bath said.
“Presented with this figure, I am confident they would agree the licensing fee is on terms favourable to our city.”
Cr Elliott said on Wednesday that she believed the council should reveal publicly the cost of the licence fee and that it was too early to tell if it was good value.
“I don’t know whether it’s a good deal for Newcastle. We haven’t run the race yet,” she said.
