City of Newcastle

The City of Newcastle is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The City of Newcastle incorporates much of the area of the Newcastle metropolitan area.The Lord Mayor of City of Newcastle Council is Councillor Nuatali Nelmes, a Labor politician. Nelmes was elected at a by-election on 15 November 2014 following the resignation of Jeff McCloy, the former Lord Mayor.Proposed amalgamationAfter a 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal found that Newcastle City Council was not "fit for the future", it was recommended that the City of Newcastle merge with Lake Macquarie City Council. However, the Minister for Local Government subsequently proposed that Newcastle City Council instead merge with Port Stephens Council to form a new council with an area of 1045km2 and support a population of approximately 230,000. The outcome of an independent review was completed by mid–2016. On 14 February 2017, the NSW Government announced it would not be proceeding with further regional council mergers, including the Newcastle City Council and Port Stephens Council merger.