Paul Scott writes: Inaction over renewal of Newcastle's former post office building could turn frustration to cynicism

In the news story 'Hotel plan draws gripes' (concerning construction of a hotel at 317 Wharf Road), hotelier Jerry Schwartz (pictured) "will proceed with the hotel plans ahead of the redevelopment of Newcastle Post Office for which he said he is awaiting a construction certificate".

The construction certificate. Damn those pesky bureaucrats in their ivory towers holding up the long-awaited restoration of Newcastle's most beautiful historic building. Isn't it reasonable to think the bureaucrats would be bending over backwards to do whatever is necessary to ensure the construction certificate was issued?

If one is not aware of how a construction certificate is issued, it would be easy to assume responsibility lies in a bureaucratic maze rather than with developer inertia. A construction certificate in NSW can be issued by a certifier or consent authority, but it can't be issued until certain conditions are met by the applicant.

And CoN is as frustrated as others waiting for the realisation of the PO rejuvenation. After reading the news story last week, I contacted CoN and asked why the construction certificate hadn't been issued.

One becomes accustomed to government at all levels addressing inquiries with a response that 'controls the narrative' and that too often results in direct questions being danced around or ignored. But the response from a CoN spokesperson concerning this matter was brutally honest: "City of Newcastle has not received a request for a Construction Certificate application for the former Newcastle Post Office. It would be good for Dr Schwartz to confirm this.

"We, like many people in Newcastle, are losing patience with the owner of the site, and the length of time it is taking him to develop the site. It has now been two years since Dr Schwartz received development approval for the work and four years since he bought the old Post Office.

"While we appreciate the complexity a heritage site creates, to date our experience has been one of frustration. It is our view that the Post Office building should be significantly closer to restoration than what it currently is, and that delay lays with the owner." That there be some plain speaking.

There's been plenty of scuttlebutt and ill-informed yarns doing the rounds on why the PO redevelopment appears to have stalled. Last week on the morning show on 2HD, callers went unchallenged by the presenter for blaming the Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council for claiming the PO and letting it rot, despite the organisation having sold it Dr Schwartz in 2019. While other callers corrected these inaccuracies, why does anyone think the Awabakal still own the PO and seamlessly relate that inaccuracy into how The Indigenous Voice to Parliament will see civilisation crumble?

It's just shy of 12 months since I wrote in this column that without a project timeframe, it might be late Neveruary until the PO rejuvenation is realised:

"So where does the project currently sit? When can the hoardings come down and when might the PO be even partially opened? The PO requires a construction certificate for building work to get underway. The construction certificate can't be obtained because the heritage report is not complete. Dr Schwartz advised pigeons have reinfested the building and the heritage report can't be completed because there is now a full layer of pigeon shit to remove, before it is habitable to allow our heritage consultants to enter."

Dr Schwartz said then he was frustrated by lack of progress. The CoN is also frustrated by lack of progress.The people of Newcastle are frustrated by lack of progress. It's a total frustrate-athon.

In 2023, a timetable for construction was publicly displayed at the PO. That timetable announced that in the first stage, the PO would be partly operational by the end of 2024. That would seem unlikely. Little wonder that publicly displayed timetable can't be seen anymore.

The owner can do as little as he wants with the PO. There's no regulatory framework providing disincentive to do nothing. Inaction will effectively take the land banking approach of previous Sydney-based owner Sean Ngu, who made millions by doing zip all.

Dr Schwartz can continue blaming delays around a "construction certificate" if he sees fit. But there comes a time when inaction and unrealised announcements see the city's frustration morph into deep cynicism, fuelled by that very inaction and a resultant belief that the PO's timely rebirth is little more than a cruel hoax.

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