A $3.7 million upgrade of Blackbutt Village in New Lambton will begin next month, delivering a safer, more attractive place to shop for local residents.
The upgrade is estimated to be complete by early 2024 and will include an off-road shared pedestrian and cycle path, a new pedestrian crossing, improved footpath connections to Blackbutt Reserve, as well as the introduction of a 40km per hour High Pedestrian Activity Area.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes expressed her excitement at the long-awaited upgrade and said it would finally realise the vision of Blackbutt locals.
“Early in this project, the community highlighted concerns about safety, and in particular safety when crossing the busy Orchardtown Road,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Our team has been busy developing a design that both improves safety and encourages pedestrians and cyclists to the area, as well as making it a safer place to park your car and visit the local shops.”
Ward 3 Councillor and Chair of the Infrastructure Advisory Committee, Peta Winney-Baartz, said the upgrade would see the entire public domain of the popular local centre renewed, focusing on place activation and improving public spaces to further promote local businesses.
“Wider footpaths and new plazas will improve outdoor dining and promote activation of the area, while its look and feel will be improved with renewed drainage, kerbs, gutters, road surfaces, footpaths, lighting, street furniture, tree planting and landscaping,” Cr Winney-Baartz said.
Traffic and Transport Manager Ryan Tranter said that City of Newcastle would continue to involve the community and businesses in discussions about introducing timed parking in the area.
“Parking safety and turnover issues have been strongly identified throughout community consultation to date, and we’ll continue to speak with local businesses and residents to ensure ease of access to the upgraded Local Centre for locals, customers and visitors,” Tranter said.
Following a workshop with business owners in the area, the broader community will be invited to provide feedback on options for timed parking in the coming months.
The upgrade has been supported with a $591,677 grant from the NSW Government under round seven of the Resources for Regions program.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW, Paul Toole, said the NSW Government’s Resources for Regions funding is stimulating local economies and supporting the ongoing prosperity of mining towns.
“This project represents the NSW Government’s commitment to providing continued support to mining reliant towns,” Toole said.
“Projects like the Blackbutt Village upgrades will go a long way to help to revitalise this area in Newcastle and provide long term benefits for this great mining community.”
The project is being delivered as part of City of Newcastle’s Local Centres program and follows similar upgrades at Carrington, Beresfield, Joslin Street in Kotara, Llewellyn Street in Merewether, James Street Plaza in Hamilton, and the upgrades currently underway in Stockton and Shortland.
Information source: City of Newcastle