Woollahra's Mayor, Councillor Christopher Dawson, said the application would return to the council in about four weeks. But a restaurant had been on the site since 1968 and had existing use rights. The site is part of the Royal Newcastle Hospital, which is being sold off piecemeal by the Hunter Area Health Service, which plans to close the remains and consolidate it with John Hunter Hospital. As part of the development, the heritage-listed North Wing will be restored, with the new apartment block to be built next door. According to Ms Cogger, eight storeys is the maximum permissible height there, but the consortium behind the scheme was allowed to use the extra floor space from the heritage building to go higher.
Heritage goes out the window because the mantra in Newcastle now is 'Jobs, jobs, jobs'.
Although Claude Neon, which leases the sign to the golf shop, has said it is in a dangerously corroded state and must come down, the shop's owner, Ray Drummond, is adamant it must stay, and he has barricaded access to the rooftop. Solicitors for Claude Neon have formally given notice of legal proceedings to gain access, and the NSW Heritage Office this week confirmed the company had agreed to fully document the sign before its removal. However, it had not given any written undertaking to reinstate the sign, a spokesman said, and the office was now seeking an on-site meeting early next week between Claude Neon, Sharpies, Sydney City Council and its own representatives. This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.