Cessnock City Council will attempt to re-open negotiations with the Department of Corrections regarding a new entrance to Cessnock Correctional Centre.
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Corrections minister Anthony Roberts withdrew the department's offer to build a new entry off Occident Street, Nulkaba - thus retaining the jail's current entrance on Lindsay Street, which council has been calling for the closure of since the jail expansion project was announced in 2016.
The minister's response came after council pushed for the state government to commit to a number of mitigation measures to protect the amenity of Nulkaba before it would endorse the government's preferred option.
Cessnock mayor Bob Pynsent tabled a mayoral minute at Wednesday night's meeting, asking councillors to support the government's preferred option (known as Option 3A), and that he and general manager Lotta Jackson request a meeting with the minister to discuss the entry to the correctional centre.
Councillors unanimously supported the mayoral minute, expressing their disappointment about the government's decision to withdraw its offer.
Independent councillor Ian Olsen asked for a further point to be added to the mayoral minute, requesting that council commits to funding the mitigation measures should the minister fail to do so.
"We've backed ourselves into a corner by what we did with our last motion. I think it's only fair that we commit to the people of Nulkaba that if the State Government will come back and put Kerlew Street back on the table, and if they don't come up with the funding to block off the rat-run, that we as a council commit to doing that after the roadwork is complete," Cr Olsen said.
Cr Pynsent rejected the extra point, saying the purpose of the mayoral minute was simply to "re-open negotiations with the minister".
Labor councillor Dr Fitzgibbon said council needs to leave no doubt that it has done all it can to get a better deal for the residents.
"For the NSW Government to withdraw funding for a new entrance because council had the audacity to ask it to make it clear that if we didn't, we'd get nothing, only fuels reasonable suspicion that they were never serious about building a new entrance in the first place," Cr Fitzgibbon said.
"We will not sit back and allow the NSW Government to walk away from its responsibility to our local community."
Liberal councillor Paul Dunn said he believed Corrections has been a good neighbour, but "being a good neighbour isn't giving council everything they demand".
"It's about getting the most equitable outcome for everyone. The jail isn't going anywhere, there is going to be an entrance, and there has to be a final resolution at some point," he said.
Councillor Jay Suvaal (Labor) said the minister's response was disappointing, because he felt everyone had "finally got to the same page" in the negotiation process.
"Council's view has always been to remove this from the local road network. It would make no sense to move it from one side to the other side without putting in any mitigation measures to stop it creating the same issue on the other side of the jail, that would defeat the purpose," he said.
The meeting was conducted via a video conference that was livestreamed on the council's Facebook page.
If you have a couple of hours to spare, watch the meeting here:
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Krystal Sellars
Krystal Sellars is the Senior Journalist at the Cessnock Advertiser. Born and raised in Cessnock, she started her journalism career at the Advertiser in 2006 after completing a Bachelor of Communication at the University of Newcastle. Contact her on krystal.sellars@cessnockadvertiser.com.au.
Krystal Sellars is the Senior Journalist at the Cessnock Advertiser. Born and raised in Cessnock, she started her journalism career at the Advertiser in 2006 after completing a Bachelor of Communication at the University of Newcastle. Contact her on krystal.sellars@cessnockadvertiser.com.au.
