City of Newcastle will sell 16 Stockton Beach Holiday Park cabins that were relocated due to a dangerous storm in 2020 and use the money to fund erosion works.
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The council on May 23 voted in a confidential session to sell the cabins, including fixtures, fittings and furniture by public auction for 85 per cent or more of their value.
The Herald understands the cabins, which are a variety of two and three bedroom buildings, have been valued at more than $1 million.
The sale revenue will be transferred to the Rawson Reserve Trust fund, where profits from the holiday park are invested and used to maintain and upgrade facilities on the Stockton beachfront.
The 16 cabins were moved by City of Newcastle from the caravan park in February 2020 as a precaution ahead of Cyclone Uesi. Lexies on the Beach cafe was also temporarily closed due to the same storm.
They have since been stored on Crown Land on the eastern side of the Stockton pool.
Worimi elder Lennie Anderson sought a protection order after the cabins were relocated, saying he believed their presence amounted to "cultural destruction" of the land they were moved to.
City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath said after discussions, it was decided the best option was to auction off the cabins.
"They are sitting on Aboriginal land and have sat there for the last three years and therefore need to be moved," he said.
"We've had conversations with local elders as well as Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council, where we have assured them they will not sit there indefinitely.
"They are cabins that aren't being lived in, and month by month they are deteriorating in condition and deteriorating in value."
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Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
