'Silly vanity projects': Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery slams Labor-led Newcastle council over spending priorities as internal feud escalates

The two sides have been at war for more than nine months over the Labor-led council's plans to offer long-term contracts to private operators running its five inland pools.

Last month, lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes accused a senior Hunter politician of using "bullying tactics" to influence Labor councillors' votes on the issue, an accusation Ms Hornery denied.

The party infighting escalated at Tuesday night's council meeting when Labor councillors passed a motion condemning Ms Hornery's "damaging", "categorically incorrect" and "reckless" public statements on the pools issue.

Cr Nelmes and Greens councillor Charlotte McCabe were not at the meeting after being granted leave of absence.

Ms Hornery responded in incendiary fashion on Wednesday, tabling two notices of motion in Parliament railing against the council's "privatisation" of the pools and lack of action on upgrading Minmi Road.

She also issued two strongly worded public statements attacking her Labor colleagues.

"I will not stand by and be accused publicly and baselessly of bullying tactics by cowardly councillors who hide behind confidential closed sessions and do not even do their jobs as elected by the Newcastle ratepayers," she said in a Facebook post.

"Last night's City of Newcastle council meeting saw a repetition of the lies from half of the councillors in the chamber."

One of her motions to Parliament noted a "smear campaign by a gang of CoN councillors to deflect their determination to privatise all CoN inland pools" and called on the councillors to "publicly admit they don't have the guts to make the hard decisions for the people of Newcastle".

Ms Hornery said in a separate media statement that the Labor councillors "including the lord mayor" had been "quite happy to pull me into their photoshoot" and "take advantage of my popularity" during the 2021 local government election campaign.

"It's a shame that councillors are so committed to silly vanity projects in the inner-city like the failed skate park on the beach or the unpopular 'black box' proposal on Newcastle Ocean Baths but won't commence a project that they have funding for and have near unanimous support from the community to complete," she said.

She said in reference to the Minmi Road upgrade that she was "shocked" the council had not started work after announcing the project in 2021.

"If we are still waiting for commencement of this project in the lead-up to the 2024 local government elections, I can assure you I will not be a part of the photoshoot and announcement."

Ms Hornery held Wallsend in the March state election with easily the largest winning margin of any Labor MP in NSW.

Party sources have told the Newcastle Herald that the dispute with her Labor colleagues stems from deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen's desire to inherit the seat from Ms Hornery.

One source said parties on both sides of the battle "hate each other".

Cr Clausen said on Wednesday that he had "always worked to support Sonia, even prior to becoming a Labor member".

"Prior to the recent election I signed her preselection nomination and worked on booths to support her campaign," he said.

"I have only ever responded to her actions, initially in private and then in response to questions from journalists."

He told the Herald last year that he was interested in standing for the seat but only if Ms Hornery retired after the next parliamentary term.

Independent councillor John Church said Cr Clausen's notice of motion on the pools contracts was a "new low for Labor politics in this city".

"Attacking a popular sitting state member will not do his future political career any favours," he said.

The council asked the former Coalition government to take over responsibility for Minmi Road, but its application was knocked back.

Labor election candidates promised in 2021 to spend $26 million to alleviate bottlenecks on the busy arterial road, and the council committed the funds in February 2022.

The Coalition government committed another $7.6 million for the project in February this year in the lead-up to the NSW election.

"No efforts have been observed in the commencement of this project," Ms Hornery said in her media statement on Wednesday.

"This is despite numerous new developments being approved in the area and an outpouring of public demand for the project to proceed.

"Given that nothing has been done to commence the project, it begs the question if City of Newcastle councillors are serious about the project at all."

The Newcastle Herald has seen a copy of an internal City of Newcastle memo to councillors dated June 26 inviting them to attend a community drop-in session to discuss concept designs for the Longworth Avenue section of the work next month.

The council said it had distributed a flyer to residents about the Longworth Avenue work.

Ms Hornery's public statements came hours after the council also passed a Labor motion calling on the council to write to the Wallsend MP to "reiterate the need" for "further refinement" of the under-construction Newcastle inner-city bypass to dedicate a corridor for "active transport, bus rapid transport and future light rail" between John Hunter Hospital and University of Newcastle as part of the project.

The motion also called for "refinements to minimise biodiversity and habitat losses".

Greens councillor John Mackenzie said the Labor infighting was "pathetic and embarrassing".

"But, much worse than this, it has introduced unprecedented dysfunction into Newcastle council," he said.

"Our community want to see council make good decisions in the community interest, and I'd suggest they have very low tolerance for this kind of petty party politics."

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