City of Newcastle Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal found that Newcastle City Council was not "fit for the future", it was recommended that the City of Newcastle merge with Lake Macquarie City Council. However, the Minister for Local Government subsequently proposed that Newcastle City Council instead merge with Port Stephens Council to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 230,000. The outcome of an independent review was completed by mid–2016. On 14 February 2017, the NSW Government announced it would not be proceeding with further regional council mergers, including the Newcastle City Council and Port
Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal became the ISCOR South Works and subsequently decommissioned the plant after the ISCOR North Works was built, now Arcelor Mittal Newcastle Works today. Today, Newcastle is the main commercial and industrial center in northern KwaZulu-Natal, and is the provinces third largest city. Continuous development has seen this city being a leader in its class and the municipality is striving to make the city sustainable by 2030. The city is the gateway to the Zulu Kingdom from the Free State and Mpumalanga. Located at approximately above sea level, Newcastle is found in the North West corner of the province of KwaZulu-Natal