Public Exhibition Process

Council has placed on public exhibition the report: “Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan.

Allen Jack + Cottier Architects (AJ+C) were invited to prepare the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan for Bathurst Regional Council (BRC). The project was co-sponsored by Charles Sturt University (CSU), who were investigating the opportunities for a Bathurst CBD Campus.

The Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan (the Master Plan) provides a vision for improving seven city blocks within the Bathurst CBD, an area known as the Bathurst Town Centre.

The Master Plan outlines AJ+C’s analysis of the existing condition of the Town Centre, the outcomes of stakeholder and community engagement undertaken in the development of the draft plan, and then makes several site or area-specific recommendations as well as Centre-wide master plan proposals. As CSU has decided not to proceed with an investigation of a CBD Campus, several options explored for campus facilities have been identified as open opportunities for other uses.

The A J+C Master Plan adopts a ‘People-First’ design approach for future changes in the CBD. People-First means giving people on foot and/or on cycle priority over vehicles wherever possible, to ensure their actual and perceived safety. This will encourage people to come to the CBD more often, stay for longer, and walk further to more businesses.

‘Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan supports the Master Plans core principle of a ‘People-First’ approach to street design but balances that approach against the community’s desire to ensure adequate parking and vehicle access can be maintained and enhanced within the CBD.

‘Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan summarises the key concepts proposed in the A J + C Master Plan and Council’s response for which feedback from the community is now sought through a public exhibition process.

The “Futureproofing our CBD” Report does not recommend wholesale adoption of the Master Plan but outlines those elements of the Master Plan considered appropriate for consideration of their implementation into the future. Importantly the report identifies options to trial many concepts within the Master Plan that put People-First without undertaking permanent change in the short to medium term.

A copy of the following documents are provided in the document library:

• ‘Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan
• Summary table of ‘Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Summary Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan
• Allen Jack + Cottier Architects (AJ+C), 2021, Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan.

Council is now inviting community feedback on those elements of the Master Plan that Council is considering for future implementation as outlined in the report: ‘Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan.

For those interested in finding out more, Council will be holding information sessions (you only need attend one session) at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) as follows:

Monday 3^rd May 2021

Session 1: 8am – 9.30am

Session 2: 12pm – 1.30pm

Session 3: 5pm – 6.30pm

To ensure these information sessions are COVIDsafe you must RSVP to Council if you would like to attend one of the sessions. Registration to attend a session can be made by contacting Council’s Environmental, Planning & Building Services Department on 6333 6511 or 6333 6240 or via email council@bathurst.nsw.gov.au.

Submissions in relation to the ‘Futureproofing our CBD’, Council’s Response to the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan should be received by Council by Monday 24 May 2021.