Maitland mall’s heritage-style lamp posts could soon appear at various places across the region.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Councillors will vote on a staff recommendation to remove the 39 lamp posts from Heritage Mall, near Bourke Street, and allocate them to eight residents and groups that had expressed interest in them.
The lamp posts, which were bought in 1988 and have no heritage value, will be removed as part of Heritage Mall upgrades during stage one of The Levee project.
The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle is expected to be offered 16 lamp posts at a cost of $100 each, while Maitland Rotary clubs will be given 10 street lights free of charge.
Cr Bob Geoghegan said there should be more discussion about the allocation because Rotary and the Diocese each wanted all of the lamps, but stood to receive less than half.
“There needs to be more discussion with those two groups,” he said.
“It’s a bit uncomfortable that Rotary would get 10 and the church would get 16 when they both wanted 39.”
Cr Geoghegan believed council should have better considered the level of community interest in the lamp posts before deciding to remove them from the mall.
“I thought we were very off-handed with the way we dealt with it,” he said.
“People were interested in where they were going and wanted them to remain in the local government area.”
The other posts will be split between six other venues or private citizens on the condition that they are not placed in a public park or road reserve, according to a council staff recommendation.
A report to councillors noted that it would cost about $1400 to refurbish each lamp post to make it suitable to remain in the mall after the upgrades were finished.
Maitland Repertory Theatre: 2
Millers Forest Progress Association: 2
Eric and Sandra van Leeuwarden: 2
Morpeth Museum: 2
Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle: 16
Maitland Rotary clubs: 10
Grossmann House: 3
Nicola and Craig Young: 2