https://hunterledger.com.au/ Local news for Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, read straight from the public record. Every claim linked to its primary source. en https://hunterledger.com.au/news/lake-mac-height-limit-variations/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/lake-mac-height-limit-variations/ Thu, 09 Jul 2026 20:30:00 GMT A 25-apartment block at Warners Bay and a house at Coal Point both break Lake Macquarie’s building-height standard, and both are recommended for approval. Any variation over 10 per cent is decided by the elected council, not its planners, which is why they reach Monday’s agenda. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/lake-mac-ev-chargers/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/lake-mac-ev-chargers/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT Belmont, Charlestown, Marmong Point, Swansea and Warners Bay now have pole-mounted public chargers with dedicated on-street bays, a four-hour limit and 100 per cent renewable power. They are aimed squarely at people who cannot charge at home. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/lake-macquarie-housing-target/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/lake-macquarie-housing-target/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT The state expects 8,000 new homes completed in Lake Macquarie by 2029. The city’s own draft Housing Strategy projects it will reach about 72 per cent of that. The catch: thousands of the missing homes are already approved. Nobody has built them. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/m1-raymond-terrace-early-opening/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/m1-raymond-terrace-early-opening/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT The northern half of the Hunter’s biggest road project is finished. Once the Black Hill to Tomago section is completed later this year, the whole 15 km motorway opens, and with it goes the Hexham bottleneck that nearly 25,000 vehicles push through on an ordinary day. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/morisset-health-facility/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/morisset-health-facility/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT A motion carried at the 15 June council meeting asks the health district where its mooted Morisset HealthOne facility is up to, and commits council to lobbying state and federal ministers. To be clear about what happened: council is asking for a health facility. Nobody has announced one. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/newcastle-arena-design-funding/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/newcastle-arena-design-funding/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT The NSW Government will fund the final design of the 12,000-seat arena planned for Broadmeadow, the step council calls “shovel ready”. The money to actually build it is not committed, and council wants both major parties to promise it before the March 2027 state election. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/newcastle-budget-2026-27/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/newcastle-budget-2026-27/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT The 2026/27 budget took effect on 1 July. Pool entry stays at $2 and extends to concession card holders at Lambton, community groups keep their $625 Crown land rent cap, and the penalty rate on overdue rates drops a full point to 9.5 per cent. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/queens-wharf-west-demolition/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/queens-wharf-west-demolition/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT Demolition of the harbour foreshore’s most prominent empty building starts in July and runs about six months. Wharf Road stays open, the Stockton ferry keeps running, and the western car park closes for the duration. What replaces the building is a decision council has left for the new financial year. https://hunterledger.com.au/news/rate-peg-2026-27/ https://hunterledger.com.au/news/rate-peg-2026-27/ Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:20:00 GMT From 1 July, the pricing regulator lets Newcastle lift its total rates income by more than any other Hunter council, while Lake Macquarie gets one of the smallest increases. Both cities are growing. The difference sits in one column of the regulator’s own table.