Newcastle has attributes that make it an ideal destination – a beautiful harbour with harbour foreshore facilities, beaches, parks, wilderness areas, heritage precincts and buildings and potentially a wealth of Indigenous sites. The Newcastle community is highly engaged in sports and active leisure pursuits and, because of that active engagement, facilities are generally of a high standard. Newcastle can position itself as a vibrant, welcoming destination for people of all backgrounds and physical mobility, enhancing quality of life for both locals and visitors.

The Newcastle Greens believe that the city’s tourism and leisure plans and facilities should be based on an ongoing dialogue with the community. We also note the significant employment arising from leisure, recreation and tourism in the Newcastle LGA.

Newcastle Greens believe that:

• Leisure recreation and tourism should:
• be sustainable, harmonious and based on local knowledge
• be mutually beneficial for visitors and host communities
• celebrate and enhance the unique aspects of any location
• provide educational outcomes
• should be equitable and accessible
• complement existing activities, industries and infrastructure
• significantly contribute to pride of place and quality of life
• take increasingly diverse forms and also exist as smaller components of daily life
• Access to leisure, recreation and tourism should not depend on physical mobility
• Good access to tourism relies on an effective, integrated transport network that prioritises active transport including cycleways
• Tourism has a significant role in the implementation of a just transition from fossil fuels
• The diverse leisure needs of different demographics and sectors of our community are all significant and are to be considered in leisure and tourism planning
• Enterprises in leisure and tourism are increasingly diverse and often sit within multiple economic sectors
• The natural environment in the Newcastle LGA, particularly our coastline, form a significant component of our appeal and must be protected for tourism and any impacts of tourism managed carefully
• Care for our natural areas and parks such as Blackbutt Reserve improve health, recreational outcomes and environmental conditions

Newcastle Greens will:

• Collaborate with local tourism stakeholders to reduce environmental and social impacts of existing tourism activity
• Support development of sympathetic and sustainable tourism
• Oppose events such as supercars that are not sympathetic, impose on amenity for locals, impact on small business and require significant council resources
• Support community initiatives related to tourism such as Newcastle Unity in Diversity festival and farmers markets
• Support existing council initiatives that enhance leisure and tourism
• Ensure any ecotourism initiatives in our Local Government Area (LGA) follow best practice and guidelines
• Support education for visitors around our unique environmental conditions e.g. drought, fires or beach safety
• Ensure any Indigenous tourism initiatives are Indigenous-led
• Reject privatisation of public space
• Continue to call for adequate funding and redevelopment of the Newcastle Art Gallery
• Move to protect the Broadmeadow sporting and showground precinct from housing development maintaining local ownership and representative governance

Develop a plan for Newcastle Council to:

• Ensure any new leisure or tourism infrastructure is beneficial for both visitors and the local community
• Ensure leisure and tourism infrastructure such as sporting grounds are well resourced and provided across the LGA
• Increase support and funding for the arts in Newcastle
• Work with the Port of Newcastle to support leisure and tourism as one aspect of port diversification
• investigate the further introduction of cruise-ship tourism from an environmental, infrastructure and economic perspective, including the viability of a cruise terminal
• Re-establish a youth leisure and cultural space
• Evaluate existing leisure and tourism within the LGA in reference to our known visiting groups and across different demographics and sectors of the local community
• Ensure any (temporary) private or commercial use of council land for leisure or tourism purposes is evidence-based and does not impact negatively on the local community
• Commit to care and restoration of our ocean pools that is befitting of their heritage value and based on community input
• Re-establish some form of maritime museum that honours Newcastle’s maritime history
• Consult with local Indigenous community in relation to the potential of an Indigenous cultural space/museum that welcomes visitors
• Leverage our relationship with Newcastle Airport to explore potential for reduction of carbon emissions and best practice as aviation changes
• Increase participation in sport, especially for Indigenous locals, women, those of varied physical mobility and young people not engaged in sport
• Enhance opportunities for participation in non-competitive recreation