Frontline Hobbies owner Colin Scott said his profits in January this year were down 30 per cent on last year due to the constant closures of sections of Hunter Street near his business.

Mr Scott said he will make a decision about the fate of his store after having a one-on-one meeting with NSW Small Business Commissioner Robyn Hobbs on January 24, when a forum will be held in Newcastle to allow small businesses to voice their concerns about the  disruption. The forum has been convened by the Hunter Business Chamber and Newcastle Now in conjunction with Ms Hobbs’ office.

“Until  that meeting takes place I don’t really want to discuss the future of the store, however one of our options is to relocate,” said Mr Scott of his popular toy store, which opened in 1978.  

He said Frontline had increased its sales year-on-year until August last year, when the closure of Hunter Street between Perkins St and Crown Street began to chew into sales. The “last straw” came in the first week of January, when the section of road outside his Hunter Street store was blocked off.   

Mr Scott said his accountant was sending his balance sheets to Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald to take to the Premier to argue the case for compensation for Hunter Street businesses hit by the traffic issues.

 “There is no doubting the numbers because it’s fact … We have projected the trend throughout 2018 because this [rail work] will carry on until 2019 and if it continues we will lose one million dollars in revenue,” he said.

“I’m hopeful of the government accepting that they are causing businesses to lose income and causing some to go broke, and causing them to relocate through no fault of their own. 

Mr Scott said the government had broken its promise that the rail work would be done in instalments and completed in blocks to minimise disruption.

He called on the public to support city stores, saying that there was a misconception that there were no parks in the CBD.  

Mr MacDonald said he would present Mr Scott’s business revenue forecast to the government however he did not want to provide “false hope that suddenly the Treasury doors will open.”

He said the compensation given to shopkeepers in George Street, Sydney, due to disruption on the city’s light rail work was due to a 12 month delay, which could not be argued in Newcastle, where the rail project was “on track” and expected to open in early 2019.

Ben Neil, of Newy Burger Co, said his Hunter Street eatery had relocated to a pop-up at Honeysuckle after losing up to 15 per cent of trade due to the works. Though now paying two rents, he believed it would lose less money than if it had stayed in the Hunter Street store to face the “unknown”.