The NSW government says the sale of a key Mayfield industrial site remains on hold after the state's pricing tribunal opened the door for a large-scale container terminal next door.
The Minns government halted the sale of the 52-hectare Intertrade site in the middle of last year as part of a "pause" on selling Crown land across the state.
Port of Newcastle has tried to buy the site in the past to support its planned container terminal, a project which took a big step forward on Friday when the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal announced the port operator would need to pay only $13 million in compensation to the state in return for extinguishing controversial penalties against it competing for freight traffic against Port Botany and Port Kembla.
Asked on Tuesday if the government would sell the Intertrade land in light of the IPART determination, a spokesperson for the Department of Planning said: "The former BHP site at Mayfield, Newcastle, is currently subject to the NSW government's pause on the sale of government-owned land.
"Any decision regarding its future use will be made once the pause is lifted."
The government told Parliament in June that the pause on selling off Crown land did not apply to sites "where the property cannot be used for residential purposes".
Housing is prohibited on the Intertrade site under its SP1 (Special Activities) zoning.
The government's appetite for a Newcastle container terminal remains unclear after the IPART ruling given the state could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation payments to Botany and Kembla operator NSW Ports.
The government's official "Three Ports" planning policy, written when the Coalition sold Botany and Kembla in 2013, prioritises developing Kembla as the state's second container port ahead of Newcastle.
Port of Newcastle chief executive Craig Carmody said on Friday that the port consortium was still interested in buying the Intertrade land and wanted to see the ports policy changed.
"We've tried to buy it three times and they keep saying no to us," he said.
"I'd still like the land, but we have suggested to the state government multiple ways they could use the Intertrade site, not just to support the development of the port of Newcastle but also clean energy."
The Newcastle Herald understands the port believes the Intertrade site could help it handle imports of wind farm components.
Asked if Port of Newcastle was concerned about the government's attitude to the site, Mr Carmody said: "Everybody's a friend today."
The Intertrade site is on the landward side of Port of Newcastle's proposed container terminal.
The former Coalition government attracted criticism in 2022 for putting the land on the market, potentially compromising the port's plans for the freight terminal.
Newcastle Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp said at the time that the Perrottet government was trying to "shut down" the Newcastle terminal plans by "selling important port access land".
"The government has thrown everything it can at stopping PoN from proceeding with its development plans," he said.
Property and Development NSW ran the sale process, but the tender period closed in July 2023 with no successful proponent identified.
Port of Newcastle lodged a submission seeking to buy the land.
The port said at the time that it could proceed with the terminal without controlling the Intertrade site "but the opportunities to build ancillary businesses around it and make it bigger and more vibrant for the Hunter certainly diminish".
