Bathurst’s newest housing developments will make up the 1500 Bathurst properties to be included in the NBN roll out over the next 18 months, however the rest of the city will not.

By comparison, Orange will see 16,700 homes come online, and Member for Calare John Cobb shows no interest in addressing the disparity. 

In a statement to the Western Advocate, Mr Cobb said the NBN was being rolled out to those who have poor access to internet services as a priority.

That was Mr Cobb’s only response to the question of why Orange will have so many new connections by 2016 and Bathurst so few.

He also failed to answer why he wasn’t fighting for more of Bathurst to come online sooner.

Instead, Mr Cobb spoke of the 19,000 premises in Calare that will be part of this next roll out. NBN Co has indicated nearly 17,000 of these will be in Orange. 

“It’s fantastic that Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull announced earlier this week a further 19,000 premises in Calare are part of the next 18 month roll out plan which will include Bathurst,” he said.

“Minister Turnbull’s announcement signals great progress for the NBN network.

“In the next 18 months more than three million homes Australia-wide, including hundreds in and around Bathurst, will be connected or close to being connected to the NBN network,” Mr Cobb said. 

That’s right. Out of more than three million homes, hundreds will be in Bathurst, a city that has a population of close to 40,000 people. 

“We have dramatically sped up the roll out and I believe this is a massive step in the right direction,” Mr Cobb said.

“The NBN Co’s national roll out plan covers the period to June 2016. The company intends to update the roll out plan every three months to provide more certainty about activities to occur in the upcoming quarter.”

Mr Cobb said houses in Perthville and South Bathurst are among the planned sites. 

NBN Co’s map flags houses in the Windradyne 900, Avonlea Stages 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, Marsden Heights stages 1, 2, 3 and 4 and Riverview Estate Stages 1 and 2 will be part of the construction schedule over the next 18 months. 

A spokesperson for NBN Co said this was exciting news for these areas.

“Naturally some people will be disappointed that they are not included in the plan, but ultimately no one misses out as the NBN will be made available to every Australian family and business by 2020,” he said.

He said this continues the momentum of the roll out in the area, with work currently underway to deliver the NBN to more than 600 homes and businesses in the surrounds of Bathurst, including parts of Mount Panorama, Sunny Corner and Orton Park.