Tony Thorpe believes Bathurst Regional Council’s five-year deal with the Penrith Panthers to bring NRL matches to the city shows the kind of sporting opportunities which could be developed in the region. 

For a number of years Mr Thorpe has been developing plans for a regional football learning centre which he believes would be a vital hub for sport, recreation and tourism. 

He said he would like to see an eastern sideline grandstand built at Carrington Park, behind which would be centre with synthetic surfaced indoor space for training and teaching. 

“It will be an indoor training development site for hockey, football, cricket and all other community-based and interest groups,” he said.

“There will be the grandstand space and behind it we will have change rooms and amenities, and a synthetic surface which can be used as a training space.”

He said there would also be a mezzanine level fitted out with multimedia technology and meeting spaces which could be utilised by sporting clubs, schools and Charles Sturt University. 

Mr Thorpe said such a centre would be key to attracting more sporting opportunities to the region.

“It is not just five games from the Panthers over the next five years that we can get, there are other opportunities, not just rugby league.”

Mr Thorpe said while Bathurst had some solid sporting facilities, it was important to keep moving forwards.

“We need to build a centre like this so that we nail the opportunities and don’t miss out,” he said.

Mr Thorpe said Football Federation Australia and the Central Coast Mariners FC had both written to council to express their support for the centre. 

He said initial funding for such a project could be gained from the Office of Communities’ ClubGrants Category 3 program, which gives organisations, including local councils, the chance to apply for grants of between $500,000 and $2 million to support the development of large-scale infrastructure projects. 

Deputy Mayor Ian North said while Mr Thorpe’s plans had a lot of merit, it would take a number of years to instigate such a plan. 

“I credit him, he has a lot of wonderful ideas and it’s always in the back of my mind in terms of future development,” Cr North said.

He said sport was a big drawcard for the region and noted council was looking to create a bigger, regional sport facility in the future, with grounds and new amenities.

Bathurst Cricket Association president Campbell Graham said Bathurst and the Central West needed such a multi-purpose facility. 

“It needs something, it needs a complex where there can be indoor training, seminars and coaching courses, and somewhere that is central,” he said. 

Group 10 Rugby League president Linore Zamparini agreed and said lots of different groups in Bathurst would be able to take advantage of it. 

“But it all comes back to who is paying for it,” he said.