The Recorder has obtained a copy of advice given to Port Pirie Regional Council last September which recommended that the hotel be saved.

That advice was not mentioned in Mr Clifton’s written report to the Development Assessment Panel, which subsequently approved the hotel’s demolition.

But he said it had still been relayed to the developer and taken into account.

He stood by the panel’s decision to approve development, as he said that the same decision would have been made even if the heritage advice had been more prominent in his report.

“I am not concerned about the decision we made, and not concerned about the process we have gone through,” he said.

“I think we have satisfied all our legislative and statutory requirements. We have come to the right conclusion.”

At any rate, he said, “if we receive objections from anyone other than an adjacent landowner, we are not allowed to take them into account”.

In her advice to the council, heritage advisor Pippa Buckberry recommended that the Newcastle Hotel be saved from demolition due to its listing as a local heritage place.

“The heritage report provided by the applicants is thorough and reputable, and an interesting argument is mounted suggesting that the hotel may not meet the current standard of listing as a local heritage place,” she said.

“The fact remains, however, that the building is listed as a local heritage place and the time to refute its listing was at the time of nomination, circa 2004.”

She added that the hotel was a local landmark and that “resisting the temptation to remove this place for short-term gains may provide long-term benefits to the community”.

“There appears to have been no consideration given to incorporating significant features of the former hotel into proposed new development, which could provide useful spaces within the development proposed as well as provide a link to the history of the site.”

In his report to the Development Assessment Panel, Mr Clifton acknowledged that the building was a local heritage place.

But he argued that the cost of maintaining it was prohibitive, that adequate efforts had been made to retain it, and that the proposed car yard would benefit the community.

He said that such considerations were appropriate despite being “not explicit” in the Development Plan Objectives and Principles of Development Control.

Work is expected to begin on the Main Road site next month.