Clash over 'half-boiled' plan for every resident to have a view of three trees

A push by a Hunter Region council to adopt an international urban greening benchmark has been voted down.

Maitland City councillors clashed over whether a plan to guarantee every resident a view of three trees, 30 per cent canopy cover and a park within 300 metres was visionary climate policy or an unaffordable fantasy.

Councillor Don Ferris, who moved the notice of motion, told Tuesday's meeting the city needed to prepare for "more 50 degree days," recalling a summer in Rutherford so hot his chickens died while he was at the beach.

He argued developers were already stripping trees from new subdivisions faster than council could track, and said the 3-30-300 principle would push staff to start counting and replacing them.

But the motion ran into a wall of costings.

Cr Sally Halliday estimated buying land alone for enough new parks to meet a 300-metre standard across Maitland's urban footprint would cost about $22 million, before a single tree went in the ground.

Cr Mitchell Griffin went further, telling colleagues the target could cost "easily $591 million" once retrofitting established suburbs was factored in, dismissing the proposal as "planning by calculator" that would eat up "two to three budgets" of council.

Cr Bill Hackney pointed to council's own urban heat vulnerability mapping, arguing 19 of Maitland's suburbs already register zero heat risk and that a blanket tree-and-park target wouldn't fix the handful of genuinely vulnerable areas.

Cr Ben Whiting was the lone voice of support beyond Cr Ferris, accusing colleagues of growing "hysterical" over the councillor's motions and noting the standard was aspirational rather than binding.

The motion was defeated, with only Crs Whiting, Race Barstow, Amelia Atkinson and Ferris in favour.

Councillors order independent probe into $7.6m tender

Singleton Council has voted to commission an independent review of the tender process behind its $7.6 million 25-metre pool enclosure project, after "publicly available information" raised fresh questions about how the contract was awarded.

Councillor Peree Watson, who moved the urgent motion, told Tuesday's meeting she had voted against the enclosure tender when it was approved earlier this month and later joined a failed bid to have that decision rescinded.

She said new information provided to councillors after the contract was awarded to Kingston Building, on top of what was disclosed in an earlier closed session, "brought into question the process," and the community needed independent assurance that nothing had gone wrong.

The review will examine compliance with council's procurement policies, the fairness and transparency of the evaluation process, probity oversight, conflicts of interest, and whether all tenderers were treated equally.

An amendment requiring a separate confidential staff report was added, detailing any contract provisions allowing termination, and the costs or penalties that could apply.

New Cessnock flood mapping shifts risk status

Cessnock City Council is set to endorse a new LGA-wide flood study that redraws flood-risk mapping across the city, with more than 2400 properties set to change flood status.

The Draft Cessnock LGA Wide Overland Flood Study updates how council maps overland flooding.

It replaces a 2021 study that relied on a coarser modelling method already flagged by the state government as misclassifying some properties.

The changes cut both ways.

Council estimates 1022 properties will be newly identified as flood-affected, while 1444 currently mapped as flood-affected will be removed, a net reduction of 422 properties.

General residential land is expected to see the biggest improvement, with flood-affected properties in that zone dropping about 90 per cent, while flood-affected commercial land is set to rise by 17 per cent.

Council staff say the shift doesn't mean flood risk on the ground has changed.

The new modelling is simply more accurate than its predecessor.

If endorsed, the study will go on public exhibition for 28 days.

A separate report will later update council's development rules to reflect the new mapping.

Council takes next steps for motorcycle hub

Maitland council is seeking to rezone its Kyle Street, Rutherford, land, currently home to the Maitland District Motorcycle Club.

They are seeking approval for additional permitted use as a "Recreation Facility" and to remove the site from the Dalmore Park Business and Innovation Precinct Urban Release Area.

The move follows a June 2026 mayoral minute backing the site as a future regional hub for motorcycling in the Hunter.

The club has operated there since 1999 under existing-use rights, but current zoning technically prohibits the use outright, which staff say could constrain future upgrades under a planned masterplan.

The proposal will go to the state government for a Gateway Determination before public exhibition.