Marine Rescue Newcastle is to finally have a new permanent home.
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The unit will have a new base built on the Stockton foreshore. The state government has given Marine Rescue NSW a lease on the site of the former Girl Guides hall.
The news has been embraced by Marine Rescue Newcastle's unit commander Ron Calman.
"I'm so thrilled to think we're going to have somewhere to settle," Mr Calman said on Friday.
For the past few years, Newcastle Marine Rescue has been adrift. The unit was based at the cottage on Shepherd's Hill for almost two decades before it was forced to move out due to damage caused during the 2015 storms.
Then Newcastle council terminated the unit's lease on the cottage and called for expressions of interest for the prime hilltop building.
Marine Rescue Newcastle has been operating from temporary bases. For the past couple of years, the volunteers have been working from a centre at Warabrook, while their boat is at the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club marina at Wickham and their communications tower is on Shepherd's Hill.
"As far as I'm concerned, it was terrible to be separated; you can't operate an organisation like ours and be separated," Mr Calman said.
The unit commander is disappointed the service could not return to Shepherd's Hill and has felt "let down" by the council in the search for an alternative site.
"It's very unfortunate we can't get a site such as Shepherd's Hill because we had vision of the ocean, and we could keep an eye on what's going on," he said.
"But with the building at Stockton, I think it's going to be a real asset for Marine Rescue Newcastle."
In January, the state government pledged an additional $37.6 million for Marine Rescue NSW, and the new base is expected to be part of that package.
The Newcastle unit is to also receive a new search and rescue boat, which Mr Calman said would be useful for operations along the Hunter River.
It is believed the new, two-storey building and boat will cost about $1.7 million.
Marine Rescue NSW Commissioner Stacey Tannos has welcomed the prospect of a new home for the Newcastle unit.
"The hardworking volunteers of Marine Rescue Newcastle have persevered and can finally have a permanent home on the waterfront, putting to rest the uncertainty about their future, while spending three years in temporary accommodation." Mr Tannos says.
The unit's new headquarters are expected to be completed in about two years. In the meantime, the unit is moving once again, to an office at the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club.
