If Newcastle and other cities of the Hunter recieved the correct % of royalties and taxes from the State Government from mining within the region, then the Newcastle Council would not have to charge exhorbitant parking fees. If one small mine pays $1m a week royalties, taxes etc to the state government, just think how much the larger companies pay and very very little of it comes home.

Time to get Doran Industries back to build another carpark on these vacant blocks of land that have been there since the earthquake and utilised as carparks since the buildings were demolished or what about the Honeysuckle undeveloped land that hasn't been utilised for many years now with the slow development of the large amount of land.

Maybe thats why they want a shuttle bus......But they may not stop them from getting pinched where they leave them to catch the bus, What will NCC do for money as they collect from Meters.

So how does Newcastle compare with Lake Macquarie and Maitland?

What a surprise. The largest regional city in the country has the biggest traffic issues too. Go figure.

So it _obviously_ makes sense to remove the rail line to the inner city, thus making newcastle even MORE unfriendly to cars. For goodness sake will someone in power get a clue and have an idea about public transport that doesn't just include adding more buses, which, in case you hadn't noticed, also increase the pain for car drivers.

I live in N.S.W. Not the "republc of Sydney". Yet I pay the same insurance, road tax, petrol costs etc. for what has been until now ( from federal grants ) dangerous and badly serviced main roads. Another terrible accident, claiming two young live today. This being close to home on the Pacific highway. The most dangerous road in the country. And all the disfunctional republic of Sydney politicians can do is keep providing, at massive cost to the suffering tax payers, toll roads going nowhere and benefiting no one.

Another insurance company up to stunts to get noticed and attract customers. Of course after the results are released and we all belive they are are a caring corporate body with our interests at heart, with the associated free publicity in the press, Virgin will probably launch a marketing campaign telling us all of the better deals they can offer.

'the least car friendly city' now what does attributing human characteristics - 'friendly' - have to do with an urban city like Newcastle? It's a nonsense, a publicity stunt. By 2018 they reckon petrol will be $6 a litre and no one will be talking about friendly inner city parking. Get ready for it Newcastle.

Amazes me how these marketing gimmicks end up being "news". Virgin Car Insurance undertook research in December 2009 and January 2010 to determine which cities across Australia were deemed the unfriendliest for motorists. Thirty-eight of the largest regional and capital cities were selected (based on population size) and analysed based on the criteria below. The results were then weighted and cities were ranked highest to lowest based on most to least friendliest city in Australia. The following assumption was made in the research. Car Insurance quotes in the survey were provided by Virgin Car Insurance, except in the case of Darwin and Alice Springs, where quotes were provided by ING Car Insurance. All of Virgin Car Insurance policies are underwritten by Auto and General Insurance Company Limited.