THE inability of the NSW government to make a decision on a new rail terminus for Newcastle has cost the city a once-in-a-generation renewal opportunity.
Investment group GPT had made it clear all along that its proposed $600 million redevelopment of the Hunter Street mall area was conditional on the government acting on the blueprint for progress prepared by the Hunter Development Corporation in March 2009.
Central to that blueprint was the creation of a new city rail terminus west of Stewart Avenue and the removal of the rail barrier that divides Newcastle's business district from its harbour shore.
GPT had warned that, without action from the government, the investment would not be viable. While the government now insists it was ready to back a light rail alternative for Newcastle - if it could persuade its federal counterpart to pay - GPT has grown tired of waiting.
With GPT will go the temporary economic props that were holding up some of the city's remaining retail trade.
The David Jones department store, having recently warned that time was running out for a decision about its future in the mall, has announced it will follow GPT.
Explaining its decision yesterday, GPT squarely blamed "a lack of commitment from the government".
"Without a multi-tiered approach to investing in the renewal of the Newcastle city centre, the city will never reach its potential," the group's managing director, Michael Cameron, stated.
GPT was no longer prepared to spend money merely to hold property in Newcastle when it had better development opportunities to pursue elsewhere.
It seems fair to suggest that political cowardice may have been a major factor in the government's reluctance to make a decision on the city's rail line. So polarised had opinion become on the matter that a decision either way was certain to make some people unhappy.
With an election not far off, it would not be surprising if the Labor government considered indefinite postponement the safest political option.
What is clear is that Newcastle's best interests have not been put first. As the implications for the city of the GPT decision sink in, the government should anticipate some unpleasant electoral consequences of its own.
The Cessnock plan
PERHAPS NSW Labor's planning minister Tony Kelly is justified in stripping Cessnock council of its planning powers.
With some of the noise against the council apparently being made by ALP donor developers, however, the government intervention seems likely to cause as much unease as it alleviates.
Announcing a new planning panel to handle high-value applications, Mr Kelly said "serious concerns about the council's ability to exercise its planning role in a timely and effective manner" justified the move, as did complaints about the council's planning performance.
Based on those criteria, some might suggest that Mr Kelly's own department ought to be the next in the firing line.
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