The future of the event beyond 2023 was discussed by City of Newcastle councillors last night at an ordinary council meeting.
There they voted unanimously on an amended notion to place the Draft Newcastle 500 Community Consultation Strategy on public exhibition for a minimum of 28 days.
Following the public exhibition, the strategy will be implemented leading into the 2023 event, the final of the existing agreement between Supercars, the City of Newcastle and Destination NSW.
Feedback from the community consultation will then be critical to whether a new deal between the relevant parties is struck to continue the Newcastle event.
"Any inclusion of Newcastle as a potential host city for another five years will be subject to broad community and stakeholder consultation, and a decision of the elected council after the March 2023 event," said Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes.
Newcastle City Council CEO Jeremy Bath added: The draft community consultation strategy has been developed by KPMG and includes an evidence-based methodology to understand the opinions of the Newcastle community and ensure that key stakeholders have their voices heard and considered.
"At this time, no decision has been reached by any of the three parties on an extension of the race beyond March 2023."
The consultation strategy includes random telephone surveys across the city, while in-person surveys will be conducted during the 2023 event.
There will also be three post-event stakeholder workshops with community, business and industry representatives.
A report based on feedback from the strategy will then be prepared for the council by mid-2023 for discussions with Supercars and Destination NSW.
Positive community feedback is far from a given, though, the event having been subject to resident protests in the past.
The original five-year deal for the Newcastle 500 started back in 2017 and was meant to see the event stage the season finale until the end of 2022.
However it was only held three times before COVID-19 intervened and it was cancelled in 2020, 2021 and then 2022.
It has been bumped up the schedule to the opener for 2023, a slot it is expected to keep should a new deal be signed beyond next year.
