Two councillors have expressed concerns about the Newcastle 500 becoming a "super-spreader" event, with the council set to ask the NSW government to review how it will be managed.
At its ordinary meeting on Tuesday night, the council moved a lord mayoral minute to write to the NSW Premier and Health Minister requesting an "assessment of the specific public health risks" of the event on March 4-6, and a review of Supercars' COVID safety plan.
The motion was originally about COVID more broadly but Greens councillor John Mackenzie moved an amendment to add the specific requests about Supercars. The amended motion passed 12 votes to one.
"Set-up for Supercars begins in the next two weeks and if it is not managed appropriately it has the potential ... to be yet another super-spreader event bringing disrepute on this city," Cr Mackenzie said. "I've been saddened and disappointed by the national prominence Newcastle has received over the last five weeks in relation to this outbreak of Omicron. Newcastle has been the location of what turned out to be the largest super-spreader event in the country since the pandemic began - the Argyle House nightclub."
Cr Mackenzie compared the Newcastle 500 to a music festival or stadium sporting event, but said it was neither of those and had "a unique set of health risks". The main risk was the "mix of residents and racegoers", he said.
"What we need is for the state government to turn its attention to the very specific public health risk issues, and outline the safety measures that are required to make sure this event is hosted in a way that is COVID-safe," he said. "It could be a range of things, from capping numbers to controlling crowd movements, to the limitation of queuing. It's not our responsibility as councillors to set those health measures, and I don't think it should be up to Supercars either, it's ... a responsibility of the state."
Fellow Ward 1 councillor John Church said residents were "very concerned" about the race potentially becoming a "super-spreader" event.
"A lot of people are concerned about the staging of major events, not only in the precinct itself but also the issues around ... public transport, which is an important way we move people in and out of the event," he said. "Calling for a comprehensive COVID safety plan should be a no-brainer, and I would be very surprised if we don't see that very soon. I would urge the state government and Supercars to work together to provide that level of comfort and assurance for the people of Newcastle."
Supercars has prepared a COVID-safety plan for all of its events the last two years. The Newcastle 500 plan is with the state government.
