THE battle to save Newcastle's iconic Cambridge Hotel has begun.
All three levels of government and members of the Newcastle Live Music Taskforce met on Friday to launch a petition calling on the venue to remain an integral part of the city's entertainment scene.
The Newcastle Herald revealed in March that French-owned company Linkcity plans to spend $110 million redeveloping the site into a 19-storey tower for student accommodation. The Cambridge will close in June 2023.
NSW Member for Newcastle, Tim Crakanthorp, hopes public pressure can save the Cambridge in its present form, and if not, convince developers to incorporate live music into the student accommodation plans.
"It's up to us to put the pressure on the new owner to not just have a lease for a restaurant or social gathering space, but to try and have the Cambridge lease renewed," Mr Crakanthorp said.
"We're putting together some correspondence from all levels of government and from other stakeholders to tell the developer that this is not what we want.
"We welcome your proposal, but a 500-student accommodation would go well with some live music where the kids can socialise and have a good time. It's a perfect fit in that regard."
Mr Crakanthorp said if the petition failed to convince Linkcity of the Cambridge's importance, the next step would be to take the community's concerns to the Joint Regional Planning Panel.
For decades "the Cambo" has attracted international and national acts to Newcastle and played a pivotal role in the rise of homegrown legends The Screaming Jets and Silverchair.
In 2019 the Cambridge hosted about 1000 shows, of which 70 per cent were local acts.
Joab Eastley from Newcastle duo Raave Tapes fears emerging acts will miss opportunities to expand beyond the city.
"The Cambridge is so integral," Mr Eastley said. "They bring so many acts to town and such a diverse range of acts across genres and demographics, which provides young artists with the opportunity to support those acts.
"When you support those acts you make connections with not only artists, but booking agents, managers, everything that is involved in the machine, and it puts your name across their circle.
"So if you make enough noise and your name keeps showing in their circles that creates attention. If the Cambridge goes, so many artists won't be coming to town."
To sign the Save The Cambridge petition head to https://www.change.org/p/don-t-kill-the-music-save-the-cambridge.
