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
2016 Newcastle City Council election UKIP targeted seats in the East of the city such as Byker and Walker. Despite this, in 2016, no UKIP councillors were elected to Newcastle City Council. http://democracy.newcastle.gov.uk/mgElectionElectionAreaResults.aspx?EID=6&RPID=3367655 retrieved 23:32 10 May 2016 2016 Newcastle City Council election The 2016 Newcastle City Council Council elections took place on 5 May 2016 to elect one third of the members of Newcastle City Council in England. The elections took place on the same day as other local elections. Despite the election, it was mathematically impossible for the Labour Party to lose control of the council given that only a third of seats