Broadmeadow is a flat place. So if we build it up with high-density housing and intensive sports and entertainment facilities, what will we do with rainwater?
Well, that's a big focus of state and council planning for the huge redevelopment zone that will stretch eastwards from Turton and Kings roads to the railway and beyond.
What the state and council have come up with looks like a fine plan - assuming they've done their sums right and water will indeed flow fast enough to the sea rather than turn Broadmeadow into an occasional Venice-on-the-Pacific.
In summary, the planners propose that parts of the zone will be raised (filled) as redevelopment proceeds, while some will go lower, to hold rainwater temporarily. Along the way, water features will be landscaped, whereas at the moment we have only concrete drains.
Massive redevelopment of Broadmeadow and flanking areas is supposed to go ahead over 30 years, beginning with residential buildings from the showground to the railway station.
Almost all of the redevelopment zone is subject to flooding, according to a study that was done for Newcastle council last year and allowed for a 0.4 metre rise in the sea level by 2050.
Development will worsen the problem, because water slips off roofs, streets and car parks much faster than it leaves parks and yards. Drainage channels are challenged in handling sharp surges in water flow.
The plan, led by the NSW Planning Department, doesn't assume flooding can be wholly prevented, which is why parts of Griffiths and Lambton roads need to be higher.
If worst comes to worst, people will need evacuation routes.
Land east of Broadmeadow Road on both sides of the railway is too low, and so is the area around Saddingtons near Hunter School of the Performing Arts. Developers will have to fill land before building.
Meanwhile, sports fields and green space will become water-detention basins. The idea is that rainwater will flow into them easily but get out only slowly - say, through a pipe - to give the area's drainage channels time to cope with heaven's demand for their services.
Wickham Park already serves that purpose.
At Broadmeadow the planners want to go the full Monty. For example, the scheme proposes to lower Smith Park at Hamilton North by two metres and give it a bund on two sides. Since the park covers more than four hectares, it will be able to hold tens of thousands of tonnes of water.
The slopes down to the playing field can be tiered for seating. Neat.
Playing fields are also to be lowered north of Perth Road and west of Lambton High School. A green space is planned for the currently ugly Woodville railway junction (between Hamilton North, Hamilton and Islington), and it too will be intended to hold water.
But the most interesting water-detention plan is for the area around and including Magic Park. Apart from more excavation, it is to feature a wetland (which sounds so much better than "swamp").
"This wetland will provide water quality benefits and habitat for a range of fauna," the department says in a report on the Broadmeadow master plan.
"The wetland will assist in flood mitigation with its size, shape and location, creating a meandering waterway that expands detention areas and slows water movement relative to the existing straight creek line."
So, yes, we can regret the loss of Magic Park as a playing field, but the wetland will be more than adequate compensation. And, despite Magic Park's closeness to Broadmeadow Station, it's clear that planners have good reasons for not assigning it to housing.
Finally, there are the drainage channels. Our forebears were practical people, and they very practically converted creeks into straight concrete drains, or they built such drains where they had filled marsh. The results are not only unattractive; they waste an opportunity to create real beauty with nature placed alongside water.
The Broadmeadow plan aims to correct that, above all with Styx Creek, which runs from New Lambton to Throsby Creek.
First, it needs widening to handle surges in flow. The planners propose to double its current 13 metre width. When the water level rises amid heavy rain, a flanking path and green belt will flood and take part of the flow.
Broadmeadow is a mostly barren place now. So of course we should line Styx Creek with trees and other plants. The master plan proposes to do that and generally landscape the land alongside the creek to make it all look somewhat natural.
The artist's impressions look lovely, and there's no reason why the real thing shouldn't eventually look just as good - providing the state government is willing to pay.
The pictures show the creek with plenty of water, but that implies weirs will be built to keep the bottom covered during dry spells. Weirs surely wouldn't be helpful for getting rid of water amid torrential rain.
Also, if still water lies behind weirs, something will have to be done about mosquitoes.
Tributary waterways, such as Lambton Ker-rai Creek, can also be given a more natural appearance, according to the master plan. Indeed, this should be done as far as possible. Every creek - or open drain - in Newcastle is an opportunity to add a little beauty to its local area.
In patches, the Broadmeadow plan leaves one or both sides of a creek occupied by buildings. Instead, we should resume a little land to keep them open on both sides.
Also, the boundary of the Broadmeadow plan excludes the last few hundred metres of Styx Creek between the railway and Throsby Creek.
That part of the waterway is also crowded out of view by buildings.
We need to open it up. Ideally, we should have attractive waterside paths lined by trees all the way from Islington to Lambton and New Lambton.
