Mental health issues and concerns for the longevity of the city were reported in a Supercars focus group for businesses but not included in the final report, according to participants who attended.
The City of Newcastle has published a final report after KPMG conducted consultation of residents, businesses and the wider community earlier in 2023.
The consultation included four focus groups held in April - one for large businesses and industry, one for small-medium businesses, a local resident group against the race and another resident group in favour of the event. Other consultation included online and phone surveys.
The report makes reference to the focus groups and includes quotes that were said in the sessions, but doesn't point out where the quotes came from. Participants also said some of the harshest feedback was omitted from the report entirely.
The Newcastle Herald has spoken to numerous businesspeople who took part in the small-medium business focus group who each said there was nothing good said about the event in the session.
"There is absolutely no way that our focus group could be skewed in a positive way," one business operator said. "It was very depressing."
"Mental health issues came up a lot," another businessperson said.
"People said they did not feel proud of the city anymore."
"It's not just the event, it's the nine weeks in total that causes mass disruption," a third business operator who participated said.
One participant said they felt the person running the session was listening and trying to get real answers from the group, so were disappointed there was little reference to the results in the report.
"Nothing is going to happen if they're not going to publish the results," a participant said.
"Were they just thoughts and prayers?"
City of Newcastle said the results of the workshops "informed the overall insights included in the report, and verbatim quotes feature in each relevant section to provide deeper understanding of stakeholders' perceptions of the event".
"It's difficult to respond to anonymous claims however it's unsurprising that those who oppose the Newcastle 500 would feel their opinion was the dominate one in the forum," a spokesperson for the council said.
"City of Newcastle extends its appreciation to the residents, business owners and stakeholders who took the time to share their important feedback through the workshops."
One businessperson said they wanted more information if the event goes ahead again, such as exactly where visitors are coming from so they can market their business to those areas ahead of the event.
But another was less supportive.
"We've had everything disrupted by a private company for its own personal gain," a business owner said.
"Just leave us alone. They've had their five years.
"I pay rates... I'm paying Supercars to disrupt my life and my business."
