A motion set to be tabled at next week's ordinary meeting calls for the council to note the "community concern" of the planned transfer of "heritage-listed rolling stock from Broadmeadow to Chullora", where the government is establishing a central facility to house most of the state's heritage railway items.

It cites "22 items considered to be of particular relevance to the rail heritage of Newcastle and the Hunter Region" and proposes writing to the minister to ensure that any approvals "required under Section 60 of the Heritage Act are obtained" before any stock is removed.

"City of Newcastle will not support the removal of the heritage items from Broadmeadow," it proposes.

The motion also calls for a master plan to be commissioned to ensure "some part of the rolling stock can be incorporated into the heritage interpretation of the former use of the site" if and when the government plans a broader redevelopment.

The future of the depot land remains up in the air. The site has previously been earmarked for medium-density housing and other uses, and more recently a community group called for the railway infrastructure to be used for heritage train activities and as part of a dedicated railway or broader museum.

Opened in 1924, the depot is the only railway complex in NSW to retain two side-by-side turntables which are both in working order. The depot shut in 1994 and has been largely abandoned ever since. The turntables and rail infrastructure are listed on the state heritage register.

A report published in 2013 after a government-ordered study into the state's transport heritage sites and infrastructure recommended a master plan be prepared for the site, suggesting it could be a showpiece railway museum with other activations.

Then Transport Minister and now Premier Gladys Berejiklian is understood to have supported the report's recommendations, but in recent years the government announced and has progressed plans to develop the Chullora facility, which is proposed to eventually offer undercover storage.

Transport for NSW said in August it had commenced minor track work at Broadmeadow ahead of the transfer of some 70-plus railway items. The "bulk" of which would be moved "in the first half of next year".

"The Broadmeadow locomotive depot and surrounds are important landholdings," a spokesperson said at the time. "Transport for NSW is exploring options for the precinct in the context of medium to long-term plans developed by the NSW government and City of Newcastle."

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