The consultancy firm that drafted the recent Supercars community survey recommended up to 15 targeted stakeholder meetings "to ensure a true cross section of the community" was consulted before four meetings were ultimately held.
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The advice was revealed in Freedom of Information documents sourced by the Newcastle East Residents Group.
The group obtained KPMG's initial and revised proposals as well as City of Newcastle's request for quote documents, which were circulated to consultants to develop and implement the Newcastle 500 community consultation strategy.
The consultation strategy is being used to help inform the council's decision about whether the Supercars event should be extended for a further five years.
KPMG's initial proposal to the council involved two options.
The first was based on the council's request for quote and included a five to seven question phone survey to 1200 stakeholders across three weeks and intercept surveys with Newcastle 500 attendees at the event.
The second option was an "alternate" to the first and was recommended to "ensure a true cross section of the community is engaged and consulted".
It included a five to seven question online survey, up to 15 targeted stakeholder meetings and snapshot research into social and traditional media conversations about the race.
The council responded asking KPMG for a new quote to combine elements of options one and two.
This included all of option one but the phone survey reduced from 1200 to 600, with 150 calls across each ward, as well as three stakeholder meetings and the online survey.
A revised quote from KPMG detailed the request, but also recommended another option "in addition" which included up to 15 stakeholder workshops with key community, business and industry members.
The revised quote cost was $142,049.88.
A City of Newcastle spokesperson said the council "opted for a hybrid strategy including an online survey open to anyone, a randomised telephone survey, four stakeholder workshops and intercept surveys".
"This hybrid approach aimed to balance the limitations of any one survey method to allow for the best possible outcomes of the consultation," the spokesperson said.
"The approach ensured everyone in the community had a chance to have their say via the online survey, while ensuring that a statistically valid randomised telephone survey was also included along with important insights from stakeholders and visitors included."
"A randomised telephone survey across the Newcastle LGA, based on the Newcastle LGA 2021 Census population estimates, requires a responding sample size of 400 or more residents to deliver a 95 per cent confidence level.
"As a result of incorporating a variety of research methodologies, the final target sample size for telephone surveys was revised to 600 and limited to only Newcastle LGA residents and businesses."
The council's request for quote also included an example survey, which suggested a phone survey of 1080 Newcastle residents as well as 400 residents from neighbouring LGAs of Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens and Cessnock, as well as 200 Newcastle businesses and 100 accommodation providers from neighbouring LGAs.
The eventual phone survey did not include anyone from outside of the Newcastle LGA, while the online survey was open to all.
The Newcastle East Residents Group has been critical of the decision to allow people from outside the area to have their say.
Spokesperson Christine Everingham said she believed people outside Newcastle would be more likely to speak in favour of the event, as they were not exposed to the impacts of the bump-in, bump-out and race weekend.
The City of Newcastle spokesperson said the "Newcastle 500's significance stretches beyond the boundaries of the Newcastle LGA, which is why individuals and businesses from outside of the area were able to share their opinions through the online survey".
The spokesperson said the consultation strategy was informed by a councillor workshop in December 2022 and was put on public exhibition for six weeks, where the community had a chance to give feedback on the strategy.
A total of 37 submissions were made providing feedback, while a further 115 submissions were made regarding subjects such as support or opposition to the Newcastle 500 event.
A report on the consultation results could be tabled as soon as the July Newcastle council meeting. The report will be shared publicly.
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Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
