THE former Bathurst saleyards site on the Vale Road is firming up as the preferred location for a new $2 million cricket academy to be built in Bathurst.
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Bathurst has been pencilled in by Cricket NSW as one of the first regional locations for an indoor academy of excellence, but finding the right site is essential to the success of the initiative.
Initially land at Brooke Moore Oval was the front runner, but it was discarded because of a lack of room.
Bathurst Sportsground then moved into favouritism with officials from Cricket NSW even travelling to the region to see first hand that potential site.
However, the former Bathurst saleyards site has emerged, and it appears to tick all the boxes for this type of venture.
Mayor Gary Rush says he is warming to the idea of putting that venue forward as a choice.
“It’s a greenfield site and it’s owned by council, which is a great start,” Cr Rush said.
“There is room to move out there because there is also land on the floodplain which could be developed into playing or training fields.
“But the clincher for mine is the fact it’s in that Mount Panorama precinct which is now home to the new $7.5 million harness racing headquarters and just down the road we have the emergence of the $5 million bike park.
“It already has the velodrome built and the mountain bike track there is going to be first class.”
Cr Rush said he would take the former saleyards site to environmental planning and building services director David Shaw, who agrees that location had merit and was worth consideration.
“It certainly hasn’t been mentioned, but I agree with the mayor that it has potential,” Mr Shaw said.
“It is only early days yet, and because it is a major development we would have to put the site under scrutiny to ensure it is suitable.”
Cr Rush said that apart from indoor cricket nets, the indoor complex would include multi-purpose courts for a range of indoor sports including basketball, netball and soccer.
“I really believe we are right up the front of the queue to make this become a reality, judging by my recent discussions in Sydney with some of the top brass from Australian cricket,” he said.
“Originally it was about five or six centres of excellence being bandied about, but such is the potential of this roll-out of academies it could well be ramped up to include even more.”
Cr Rush said Cricket NSW was being tight-lipped as to their plans, but noted that apart from Bathurst, Wagga Wagga and Newcastle could also be in the mix for the initial roll-out.
“It’s all subject to funding through the state government,” he said.
