City of Newcastle Councillor and former long-serving Lord Mayor, Nuatali Nelmes, has tendered her resignation from the organisation.
Her departure will bring to a close Cr Nelmes’ (pictured) more than 16-year career with the Council, having been elected as a Ward 3 Councillor in August 2008, before being elected as Lord Mayor in November 2014 where she served in the top job until October 2024.
New Lord Mayor, Ross Kerridge, thanked Cr Nelmes for her nearly two decades years of civic service.
“Nuatali has had a remarkably long career contributing to the city through the Council, to the Newcastle Airport, to the Local Government Association of NSW, and to the Labor party,” Lord Mayor Kerridge said.
“It has been a time of dramatic changes in our city. Nuatali‘s energetic leadership has been a major part of this change.
“Civic leadership requires great sacrifices, including by families, and I hope Nuatali and her family can now enjoy some time together, reflecting on their achievements.
“I wish her well in her future career wherever that may take her.”
City of Newcastle CEO, Jeremy Bath, also wished Cr Nelmes all the best for her future.
“On behalf of the City of Newcastle’s 1,400 employees, I’d like to thank Nuatali for her dedication as a councillor and as the former Lord Mayor,” Mr Bath said.
“Nuatali was not only a passionate supporter of Newcastle, but also for our staff and the incredible work they do in the community.
“Only 15 people have served in the role of Lord Mayor of Newcastle. It’s a seven-day-a-week role and for Nuatali it commenced the minute she woke each morning and didn’t pause until very late at night.
“I especially appreciated Nuatali’s advice and effort during the pandemic. Under Nuatali’s leadership our Council took on a very visible support role for the community, injecting tens of millions of dollars into the community to support those that had either lost their job or who were suffering from the health impacts of the multiple lock downs.”
He said Cr Nelmes’ 16 years on Council has coincided with a significant transformation of Newcastle, nowhere more evident than in the Newcastle CBD itself.
“When Nuatali was first elected as a Councillor, City of Newcastle was approving $450 million in development annually. Last year more than $1.5 billion in development was approved, including over 350 projects that when completed will provide 900 dwellings for our community. In 2014 we had a backlog of 410 DAs that were undetermined. Today that number has fallen to 209, the lowest number since we started keeping records more than 30 years ago,” said Mr Bath.
“Over the past decade Council has approved 14,586 development applications, with a combined value of more than $9 billion. This doesn’t include state significant developments which account for several billion dollars more in development.
“The last 10 years during which Nuatali served as Newcastle’s 14th Lord Mayor saw an even greater economic change in the city. Local employment has grown by more than 17,000 jobs or 20%, and the unemployment rate has fallen from 7.3% to 3.1%, which is lower than the regional NSW unemployment rate, the state unemployment rate and the national unemployment rate.
“Over the past decade the population of Newcastle has increased by more than 10%, with our city now considered one of the most desired places to live in Australia.
“Urban revitalisation has also seen unprecedented growth and transformation across the city during the past 10 years. When Nuatali was elected Lord Mayor in August 2014, the city was investing $45.4 million annually in city infrastructure. The most recent capital works program adopted by Council in July last year committed $143.4 million to be spent improving the city. This is the largest capital works program ever attempted by any local council in the Hunter region.”
The Council unanimously resolved in October that should a councillor resign in the first 18 months of the four-year term, a countback election would take place.
This election does not require voters of Ward 3 to return to the polls and therefore a by-election is not required. Instead, the NSW Electoral Commission will now contact all unelected Ward 3 candidates to confirm their interest in being elected to Council.
If there is only one eligible candidate, that candidate is elected. If there are multiple eligible candidates, a countback election is conducted based on votes from the election in Ward 3 in September 2024.
Deputy Lord Mayor, Callum Pull said he had enjoyed working with Cr Nelmes over the past three years.
“From day one Nuatali was a generous leader and always willing to share advice, especially when I was learning the ropes of being a Councillor,” Cr Pull said.
“I will miss having her at Council, and her absence from Council meetings will be significant in terms of her extensive local government knowledge and experience. That said, it’s an opportunity for all of us to step up and help fill the void created by Nuatali’s resignation.
“Her contribution to our city has been enormous, and I wish her every success in her journey ahead,” he said.
