Hunter Business Chamber has highlighted the success of the region after the Newcastle City Council received a $5million grant from the Australian Government for digital technology to make it easier to move around the city and run more efficiently, and the successful Supercars weekend.

Hunter Business Chamber CEO, Bob Hawes said these are watershed moments that have the potential to propel the Hunter onto the world stage in a way never seen before.

“The Coates Hire Newcastle 500 event was a great success – Destination NSW, The City of Newcastle, Supercars and all of the other people involved in making the event a success should be congratulated for pulling off what was a superb inaugural weekend,” Bob said.

“We’ve already started engaging with members following the event, and will provide feedback to the organisers that we can learn from, which they may use to improve the event in the future.

“But by most accounts, the first event was a sensational success, providing important branding and economic benefits to our city and region. The weekend truly highlighted the best of Newcastle.

“There’s no doubt that businesses in the city and elsewhere want to understand how they can benefit from the increased flow of people generated by the Coates Hire Newcastle 500.”

The Chamber is currently working with a range of stakeholders, including Newcastle City Council, NSW Government agencies and Newcastle Now to explore how this could happen.

“We’re also keen to make much more of the event in a broader context, which could actively engage the wider region,” Bob said.

“There may be event specific activities we could incorporate – imagine, for example, how our city and region would benefit by hosting one of the world’s first driverless vehicle races?

“This would showcase not only our natural endowments, but also the knowledge, skills and creativity of our talented people, and would leverage Newcastle City Council’s digital technology grant and the city’s ambition to be a pilot area for driverless vehicle technology.”