WHAT do you give the town that has everything for its 200th birthday? Well, Bathurst man Bob Triming has an idea.
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Mr Triming, a regular speaker during Bathurst Regional Council’s public question time each month, believes he has the perfect gift idea for global internet giant Google to give the people of Bathurst during the bicentenary: an updated StreetView service.
Mr Triming told councillors parts of Bathurst were barely recognisable on StreetView as it now stands and questioned just how regularly Google updates its archive.
He called on council to contact Google inviting them back to get a proper picture of modern Bathurst.
“Some of the images are so old that I don’t even recognise my house,” Mr Triming said. “They seem to do updates in the capital cities every year or so but maybe they neglect the smaller cities a bit.
“Streetview around Bathurst seems to be six or seven years old, so maybe council could give Google a bit of a hurry up.”
A quick search by the Western Advocate made a strong case in support of Mr Triming’s request.
Bathurst residents don’t need to wait for time travel to be perfected before they can take a trip back to 2008, they simply have to log on to Google Maps.
While some parts of the city have been updated more recently, a banner hanging across William Street outside the council chambers makes it clear when the Google-mobile last visited the centre of town.
The banner shown on StreetView is promoting the Rockley Rodeo ... for 2008.
The same shot shows Lamplighters restaurant on William Street - a favourite Bathurst eatery that was consigned to the pages of history several years ago.
Other steps back in time include a lower Rankin Street streetscape in the time before Bernardi’s IGA moved in; Pat O’Leary Drive before the Kelso McDonald’s was built; and a reminder of the 40-year missing link that had previously been the Bradwardine Road intersection with the Mitchell Highway, outside Roads and Maritime Services.
StreetView also gives starkly illustrates the residential building boom in Bathurst in recent years, particularly around Marsden Lane at Kelso and Carlyle Avenue before the Avonlea development started.