With the show three weeks away on March 5, 6 and 7, Venues NSW has barricaded a row of fibro-roofed stables as an asbestos hazard, making it hard for show organisers to access vital show equipment stored inside.

As well, show organisers say they are still waiting for the final $100,000 in a $350,000 funding agreement that was due last year and which has been budgeted for in organising and promoting the show.

Relations between Venues NSW and the Newcastle Agricultural and Horticultural Association Inc have deteriorated since the government unveiled its "Hunter Park" housing plans for the showground site, forcing the show to another part of the Broadmeadow precinct, if not somewhere else completely.

As the Newcastle Herald reported in November, Venues NSW has banned show figure Daniel Wallace from its property for allegedly "aggressive" behaviour - having "no further dealings" with him after he accused Venues of failing to maintain the showgrounds.

Show chairman Peter Evans said Mr Wallace was a vital part of the team and had the board's "unanimous support".

"Because we supported Daniel, Venues NSW has terminated a funding agreement for money we raised ourselves from parking fees for the weekly farmers' markets," Mr Evans said.

"We are very stretched in coping without it."

"It's been hard to get a straight answer from them," Mr Evans said.

"This began three years ago with a handshake agreement then a Memorandum of Understanding that out of the $700,000 put aside from our original source of showground income, the parking fees for the farmers' markets, we could access $350,000 of that.

"I asked for it to be paid to us straight away, and they offered it to us over three years.

"The first $150,000 was paid in 2018, then $100,000 in 2019 and the final $100,000 was due on November 3, 2020, which is more than three months ago.

"But now that they have terminated the funding agreement it's unclear what they intend to do over the final payment.

"We are chasing sponsorship on a daily basis. Community support is good.

RECENT YEARS:

"The Newcastle Show has been going for 120 years and we want to see another 120 years of shows. Right now, without that money, were are coping. But only just.

The Herald approached Venues NSW on Friday morning for comment on the funding, the asbestos contamination and other issues relating to the showground site.

Venues responded with a written statement on Friday afternoon that made no mention of the $100,000, and subsequent attempts to obtain more information from the organisation about the financial situation have been unsuccessful.

"Ownership of the Newcastle Entertainment Centre and Showgrounds rests with Venues NSW under the Sporting Venues Authorities Act 2008," Venues NSW said on Friday.

"This act dissolved the Newcastle Showground and Exhibition Centre Trust but requires Venues NSW to allow the show association's use of showground land to host the annual Newcastle Regional Show."

Daniel Wallace joined the show board in 2018 when he was still head of Hunter Workers, the trading name of Newcastle Trade Hall Council.

As a union official and former Lake Macquarie Labor councillor, Mr Wallace and show secretary Peter Evans - a high-profile solicitor and professional company director -might not seem like obvious allies.

But Mr Evans - who said yesterday that "Daniel is an extremely capable fellow" and the show board have continued to back Mr Wallace, who accuses Venues NSW of hypocrisy over the asbestos in the stables.

"It's clear they want me gone but I'm not budging one inch," Mr Wallace said yesterday. "Their asbestos handling has been a clear breach of the Work Health and Safety Act and I have the proof.

"They were sent photos of the asbestos 18 months ago, and I will stand by that statement.

"Isolating someone in any workplace amounts to bullying and harassment and that is what is happening here.

"Taking action against anyone for raising a genuine safety concern is unlawful and a breach of general protections legislation."

Mr Wallace said that in February last year, Venues NSW said that "no remedial action" was needed on the stables.

"But you could see the broken bits of asbestos lying on the ground. That's when I put my own signs up, in July.

"Then they get a second assessment and this time it says the buildings are a "moderate risk" and so they decide they have to come down.

"So suddenly now it's so dangerous that they wouldn't let us get our stuff out of there, the 'back of house' equipment for the show: the horse jumps, traffic barricades, the red show pushbikes, and so on.

"Stuff that has to be moved around during the show.

"So what they decide that we can have back will be stored in shipping containers over on the other side of the showground, meaning us having to drag it through the middle of side show alley whenever we need it.

HUNTER PARK: The plans in full

"For two years they didn't care there was asbestos there, and now they do and its apparently so dangerous that the whole lot has to be demolished after the show."

In its statement on Friday, Venues NSW said: "Public safety is our number one priority and Venues NSW has kept all showground stakeholders informed about the removal of asbestos contaminated materials.

"The show association has been made aware that equipment stored in the affected area is being moved to a more suitable location on the site to ensure it is not contaminated and there is no impact to the Newcastle Show operation."

Mr Evans, who is also chairman of the William The Fourth committee, said there were parallels between the way Venues NSW was treating the Newcastle show and the way the Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation treated Newcastle Maritime Museum when it lost its home at Lee Wharf.

"When they put their mind to it they can make things very difficult for a small organisation," Mr Evans said.

"But this is a board with a lot of experience, doing enormous things on a volunteer basis, with Newcastle community spirit behind it."

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