And he has some advice for Bathurst Regional Council: more land needs to be set aside for public car parking.

Mr Bolam said when he started developing properties in the city he was unhappy with council’s requirement to provide a certain number of car parking spaces for each development, because he saw it as a very costly exercise without any direct return.

However, over the years he has become absolutely convinced that, wherever possible, a property owner should provide on-site car parking for tenants.

Mr Bolam said he has now incorporated 315 car parking spaces into his developments, something that has cost him millions of dollars.

He said this has been beneficial to all involved.

As more and more parking restrictions are introduced in the CBD, his tenants appreciate the convenience. In turn, this means it is easier for him to retain those tenants. 

“Having somewhere for staff to park off the street leaves more room for their customers to park outside on the street,” Mr Bolam said.

“I had a car park which I opened up to the public as paid parking, but now I keep all that parking for my tenants.

“It costs millions of dollars to provide parking as part of a development, but I am absolutely committed to providing parking for my tenants.

“In fact, I probably wouldn’t want to acquire a building if there is no provision for on-site parking.”

He said his newest development in the McIntosh McPhillamy and Co building on the corner of George and Howick streets would have on-site spaces for 42 cars over two levels.

Mr Bolam said as council increases its mobile parking patrols and the amount of timed parking in the CBD, it is going to have to address the all-day parking problems in Bathurst. 

Council has its own problems when it comes to parking, and Mr Bolam said that when the civic centre and council chambers were built, the council of the day was short-sighted when it came to providing on-site parking for staff, with just four spaces set aside. 

Mr Bolam said he has one tenant in a small shop that is required to provide five times that number. 

“Perhaps way back then they didn’t appreciate how busy our streets would become, how big council would grow or how essential it is to provide proper parking,” he said.

Mr Bolam believes council needs to provide all-day public car parking for workers in the city. 

He said while using Carrington Park, which has been earmarked for public parking, would go some way to addressing the problem, council must look even further ahead and eventually provide parking on the other side of the CBD too. 

“As the city grows, much more land must be set aside for public car parking,” he said.

“With an estimated future population of 52,000 you have to look at where those people are going to park, and plan accordingly.”