City Logs On To It Future
Newcastle Herald
Friday June 9, 2000
AN information technology incubator in Civic Arcade and a new industrial park near the F3 Freeway are among Newcastle's suggested future business directions.
The specific measures are contained in an amended economic development strategy adopted by Newcastle City Council earlier this week.
A key point among the objectives is for Newcastle council to create major joint ventures to generate further investment.
According to council economic development co-ordinator Jenny Roberts, the private partnerships would initially be in four areas.
These are:
* A new industrial park at Weakleys Drive at Beresfield. `There is a strong demand for Newcastle industrial land we can't satisfy,' Ms Roberts said.
* Pursuing business to refurbish dilapidated Surf House, which sits on prime Merewether land overlooking the ocean.
* Exploiting the commercial tourist potential of council's proposed coastal walk, `Bather's Way', from Nobbys to Glenrock.
* Looking at using vacant space in the Civic Arcade to attract new information technology (IT) companies on the `plug-and-go principle' to help revitalise the emerging city core at Civic.
The concept of attracting IT firms has already been successful in New York's Manhattan.
`The idea is that Newcastle council won't be contributing money to the schemes but providing the asset, the land involved, and possibly some in-kind arrangement,' she said.
The joint venture idea has been actively promoted by Cr Peter McLeish (ALP).
However, three councillors said they did not `feel ownership' of the document prepared by council staff.
But council general manager Janet Dore said later that the strategy had already been workshopped and publicly displayed.
© 2000 Newcastle Herald
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