Warren Smith, co-founder of Surfest and regarded as something of a local legend, grew up in Newcastle in the 1950s, when there was a milk bar on every corner, everyone had a job after leaving school and life revolved around the beach. The 64-year-old lives in the house his grandparents built at Bar Beach, moments from the surf. Smith has seen it all - the heady boom times, the bust when BHP left town, and the development of large suburban shopping centres, which had a devastating impact on the city's main thoroughfare, Hunter Street. Now he's seeing the city come back to life.
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Smith predicts that in a decade from now, Newcastle will be a lively place to live and work, full of young people thanks to the new city campuses of the university. "We've come out of the doom and gloom following the closure of BHP," he says. "Houses are being renovated and there's a great vibe once more in the CBD. We are a coastal city with the beach as our backyard ??? no wonder people want to live here."
Local legend Warren Smith lives in the house his grandparents built at Bar Beach, moments from the surf. Photo: Quentin Jones
But how will the city look in 2027? The NSW Government certainly has its sights set on the future of the city, investing more than $650 million in Newcastle's revitalisation, delivering public spaces, light rail and a new public transport interchange, transforming the way people live, work and play.
Michael Cassel, CEO of the Hunter Development Corporation, says state government investment in a new international cruise terminal (to open by early 2019), new central law courts, the university and an upgrade to Newcastle Airport, means close to $1 billion would have been spent on Newcastle in the past four to five years. All that will have an impact in the next decade.
"In ten years' time, you'll see a massive university expansion, doubling the number of students currently enrolled," he predicts. "You'll see a light rail system ferrying people from one end of the city to the other and a visitor economy that actually works."
Offering home port facilities for international cruise ships could have huge benefits for the city, Cassel says. "We've got strong potential to attract cruise lines to home port here, offering them savings in berthing fees over Sydney, and good infrastructure to get things on and off ships." He adds that having cruise ships based here would ultimately drive more international flights in and out of Newcastle. The run-on affect would reach to Newcastle University, which could attract more international students and lecturers.
Michael Cassel predicts the city centre will shift towards Wickham. Photo: Quentin Jones
Cassel predicts that by 2027, the city's disused heritage railway station will be used as a major arts, retail and cultural hub; and that the city centre will shift westward towards Wickham, with the east end becoming something of a residential village.
Rosemarie Milsom, an ABC Newcastle radio presenter and founding director of the Newcastle Writers Festival, predicts there will be a thriving inner-city population 10 years down the track and a new inner-city school to cope with an increasing CBD population.
Pockets of remaining industrial land will be converted into much-needed conference, performance and cultural venues, Milsom predicts. And with the increased presence of the University of Newcastle, the city will become a student hub with all that entails: cafes, low-key cultural spaces and eclectic eateries.
And the city's skyline is going to look very different, she says. "I think the biggest change will be to the skyline given the number of developments under construction and in the pipeline. For so long the cityscape has been dominated by Christ Church Cathedral but this is set to change dramatically."
