Case Studies

Background

The City was investigating an upgrade to the shorefront at Newcastle Beach. The revitalisation project included significant improvements to one of the city’s major recreational spaces, including:

• Construction of the Bathers Way shared path between Shortland Esplanade to King Edward Park,
• Construction of a skate park,
• Improvements to traffic around the Newcastle Beach area, and
• construction of Newcastle Beach Community Facility that included multi-purpose building including function room, café, lifeguard facilities, public amenities, shade and seating.

The beachfront is a major recreational attraction for both tourist and locals. The City, therefore, wanted to determine the economic benefits that the upgrade could create for the local businesses and community.

Project Goals

Newcastle City Council were seeking $7.15 million in supporting funding, on top of the $5.75 million provided by Council, to complete the project. The City required a comprehensive analysis to underpin the project which could also be used to support funding applications through various stages of the project.

REMPLAN’s Involvement

REMPLAN assisted Newcastle City Council to develop a comprehensive business case, applying regional economic modelling created as part of Newcastle City Council’s REMPLAN Economy software. Beyond demonstrating the positive economic impacts of the project, the business case illustrated the broader cultural and social benefits of the improvements to the wider region.

Results

The economic impact analysis was able to quantify an increase in employment and private investment for the local area.

With the support of the analysis, Newcastle City has been successful in gaining funding across a range of grant programs. Construction of the project is well underway.