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Businesses that suffered hardship during construction of the light rail project can still apply for financial assistance up to 30 June.
Support is still available to properties within the City Centre Benefit Special Rate Area made possible via a successful amendment from the Lord Mayor in 2018 to Council’s current budget.
Around 110 eligible property owners or tenants have already successfully applied for that relief, receiving assistance equalling 50 per cent of the City Centre Special Rate paid by the building owner, which to date has been $45,000.
Following a separate successful Lord Mayoral Minute at Tuesday’s May Council meeting, this assistance will be extended for a further 12 months for those businesses in The Mall and East End who pay or who operate within a building that pays the City Centre Special Rate.
Property owners seeking the rebate can only do so if they commit in writing to passing on the rebate to businesses leasing from them.
For a typical business, this support amounts to approximately $500.
“There’s still time for the business and tenants to take advantage of this year’s relief,” Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.
“Council took the decision to provide direct rate relief to those businesses suffering from the disruption that the construction of light rail brought about.
“We understand that their bottom line was adversely impacted, and this rate relief was a mechanism to ensure they received some financial assistance.
“Council once again acknowledged Tuesday that businesses faced continued challenges amid the unavoidable construction of the Iris Capital East End project and upcoming works by the City to upgrade Newcastle East.”
Financial assistance is available:

• to the tenant(s) of the property, or
• to the property owner – providing the property is solely owner occupied and no part is leased out.

To access this assistance, property owners must have at least paid the first-quarter rates instalment on their 2018/19 Rates and Charges Notice.
They should complete an application form together with details of tenants (with their signature) where applicable.
If more than one tenant occupies the property, a separate form is required for each tenant.
Once processed, the City will then transfer half the amount they would have paid for the 2018/19 City Centre Special Rate to the bank account nominated on the application form.
Both property owner and tenant(s) will be notified by email once the City makes the financial assistance payment.

City of Newcastle’s great smart city strides were recognized again Thursday night at a national event highlighting the latest technologies being deployed across Australia’s building, transport and utilities industries.
Newcastle was named joint winner of the headline Smart City of the Year – Metropolitan prize along with Adelaide’s City of Prospect at the Smart Cities Awards 2019 in Melbourne.
Presented during the Smart Cities 2019 Conference, the award confirmed Newcastle had moved ahead of other local governments, including finalists Randwick, Townsville and Lake Macquarie city councils, as an advanced and ambitious smart city.
“This award recognises our commitment to planning for the future and engaging widely with the Hunter’s tech minds as part of the Smart City Strategy, adopted by Council in 2017, and the extent of our smart city development,” Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.
“Whether investing in energy-efficient solar projects or rolling out electric-vehicle charging stations and bike-sharing initiatives, we’re leading the way when it comes to investment in and uptake of technology.
“This includes the roll-out of free Wi-Fi and low-power wide area networks that will link sensors and integrated technology to provide detailed real-time data to improve ease of access, efficiency and liveability for residents, businesses and tourists.
“It’s also important to move beyond the installation of technology alone, to also engage with the community around the future city. This is what we’ve seen with our catapult project working with innovative startups, and workshops and events aimed at ensuring our smart city is for everyone, such as the inaugural Humble Lecturebeing delivered Friday at our City Library.
“This is an exciting time for our City, and I want to pay tribute and extend a big thank you to the great achievements of our Smart City team.”
The latest gong follows the City’s win of last year’s Smart Cities Strategy Award, which recognised the the Smart City Strategy 2017-2021 at the Smart Cities Council Australia and New Zealand’s inaugural Smart City Week.
For more information on the Smart Cities Conference and Awards 2019, visit https://smart-cities.com.au/ or to view the Smart City Strategy 2017-2021, visit  http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/getattachment/Business/Smart-City/smart-city/2752_Smart-City-Strategy-FINAL-WEB-indexed.pdf.aspx?lang=en-AU.
Caption: City of Newcastle Smart City Coordinator Nathaniel Bavinton with the award at last night’s presentation.

As much as $900,000 will soon be offered to community-minded organisations and groups to activate the CBD and business districts of Hamilton, Mayfield and Wallsend, following a decision of the City of Newcastle’s elected Council last night.
Under a new scheme designed to increase investment in projects to benefit business and improve accountability, Council decided that local business improvement associations (BIAs), which previously received more than $1.3 million annually from a special rate paid by some commercial property owners, will be offered agreements that cap their funding at $100,000.
The Council also voted to ban special rates from being used by BIAs on employees and administration, stipulating that funds should go towards events and projects that activate the business areas.
The Council also agreed to terminate an existing funding agreement with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce in response to a confidential report from the City of Newcastle CEO regarding breaches of the funding deed.
“I have today written to the Chamber President Nathan Errington outlining to him the significant breaches that provide me grounds to immediately terminate their funding,” Mr Bath said.
“Mr Errington is aware of the numerous allegations that have been put to him and another director over the past few months. It is a decision for him whether he wishes to make these breaches public.”
Council also voted to encourage the formation of a new BIA in the CBD following an independent investigation last year that confirmed Newcastle Now had committed multiple breaches of its funding agreement.
“Newcastle Now received $844,111.80 from ratepayers for the year 2016/17,” Mr Bath noted. “They responded by incurring a wages and salaries bill of $423,000 for a small number of employees.
“Their own profit and loss statement shows that over the course of the full 12 months, they invested just $5,539.88 in the East End on placemaking.
“The Civic precinct received just $11,845 in investment on activities and events, while Newcastle West, which has over the past two years been developing into the City’s new CBD, received just $326.82 on placemaking.
“In a year in which traders in the Mall and along Hunter Street were gearing up for light rail construction and Watt Street and Shortland Esplanade were closed for renewal works, Newcastle Now managed to spend more money on rent than placemaking in the Civic and East and West End precincts.
“Newcastle Now’s loud protests during the past few months has now been exposed as nothing but a distraction from their own shameful spending performance.
“Rather than profusely apologise for their repeated breaches of the funding agreement, they have led a campaign in partnership with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce against Council’s determination to bring accountability and transparency to special rate funding.
“Events such as Beaumont Street Carnivale will continue. I have no doubt that when a BIA is formed to secure events for Hamilton, that festivals such as Beaumont Street Carnivale will be the No.1 priority to ensure it remains funded.
“I would like to make clear that one BIA held its head high throughout the review of the BIAs. That BIA was Wallsend Town Village, which took the time to understand the review and new funding model.
“Doing this allowed them to understand that under the new model, more money and therefore more events will be available for Wallsend,” Mr Bath said.
Tenders for a new shared resource to manage the administration responsibilities of the BIAs closed Tuesday. A joint Support Officer was a suggestion of the BIAs last November as each organisation is paying consultants to manage identical responsibilities such as preparing business plans and acquittal reports.
Council looks forward to announcing in June the organisation that will ensure the spending of special rates money is transparent and invested in events and projects that promote the business areas of the CBD, Hamilton, Mayfield and Wallsend.

An annual lecture will be launched by Newcastle Libraries this week to remember the life of a devoted librarian and public servant who recently lost her battle with cancer.
The inaugural Humble Lecture, named in honour of late Newcastle librarian Jennie Humble, will focus on digital innovation and other Smart City topics at City Hall on Friday from 2pm to 4pm.
Making Sci-Fi Our Reality will be the theme of the inaugural lecture delivered by keynote speaker Shara Evans, is a globally acknowledged keynote speaker and widely regarded as one of the world’s Top Female Futurists on emerging technologies, cyber security and digital privacy.
With a background in engineering, Shara is well known for helping organisations anticipate the impacts of technology on customers, the community and society.
Members of Newcastle’s Smart City team will also offer updates on what’s happening within the ambitious program to modernise the city.
City Manager of Libraries and Learning Suzie Gately said the session would stimulate and entertain people in the same way Jennie’s work ethic and warm personality did.
“Jennie was a massive science fiction reader who came to her dream career of librarian at Newcastle Libraries in the Digital Services team,” Gately said.  “She shaped our libraries’ digital engagement with our loyal membership and wider community via our website, social media channels and digital library service design.
“This is a great opportunity to remember her and use her sudden passing to positively promote the wonderful work we’re undertaking in digital innovation in order to ensure that we meet the digital inclusion objectives of the library service alongside our Smart City objectives.
“Aged just 40, Jennie left a massive hole in our hearts when she died late last year, and this is a fantastic way to pay tribute to the work she did.”
Ms Gately said the City was already exploring themes for future Humble Lectures that tie in closely with the City’s recently adopted four-year Library Strategy.
Left: Shara Evans
“As a way of furthering Jennie’s good work and our own objectives outlined in the 2019-2023 Library Strategy, we will aim to expand on tomorrow’s lecture by exploring future themes such as how to harness big data to improve people’s lives, and explore the role that libraries can play in navigating enormous changes in technology,” she said.
Bookings are essential for the free lecture, which will become an annual event on the City’s calendar alongside National Library and Information Week.
Please visit newcastle.nsw.gov.au/library/whats-on/events for more.