Councillor Jess Jennings thinks Bathurst should apply for Heritage City status in the wake of Broken Hill being declared the first Australian city to be included on the National Heritage List after a decade-long campaign.
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Broken Hill City Council nominated the city for heritage listing in 2005, with environmental lawyer Simon Molesworth spearheading the campaign.
“Bathurst should have been the first city to apply for this of course, but Broken Hill got the jump,” Cr Jennings said.
“It’s hard to believe we were not the first, given the heritage we have.”
Cr Jennings said during its 200 years of European history, Bathurst has matured to become a thriving rural town and regional centre that hosts more than 1000 heritage-listed buildings and related items.
He said, overall, Bathurst has provided major economic, social, environmental and cultural contributions to the development of NSW and the great nation Australia has become today.
He said that, as reported in Rob McLachlan’s recent book “From Flag Staff to Town Square”, Bathurst provided many “firsts” for inland Australia, and has matured to become a town that is justifiably representative of the heart and home of rural and regional Australia.
He said the proclamation of Bathurst as Australia’s first inland settlement on May 7, 1815 at Macquarie’s flag staff provided the primary survey reference point for the first inland explorers and settlers.
Cr Jennings said the first inland agriculture, in the form of cultivated cropping, was established in Bathurst. It was also the site of the first inland hospital, police station, gaol, law courts, post office, gallows and the first, and only, inland Female Factory.
“The first of many inland buildings were established in Bathurst, such as the first two-storey building, the first storehouse-granary, the first brick house and of course what could be more Australian than the first inland long drop dunny,” he said.
“If Broken Hill can get on that list, by being the first inland city Bathurst should be on that list as well.
“Colloquially we can claim Bathurst as the birthplace of regional and rural Australia.
“Broken Hill would never have happened if Bathurst hadn’t happened first,” Cr Jennings said.
He said becoming a heritage city would provide a good marketing opportunity.
While he didn’t know if having the city heritage listed would make it harder to develop Bathurst, Cr Jennings said he couldn’t imagine more stringent regulations than the ones already in place.
Simon Molesworth, who was responsible for pushing Broken Hill’s case, said it was “pretty frustrating” at times because people were not necessarily behind the idea. He said the community was a conservative one and wondered if it was the best thing for Broken Hill.
However, Broken Hill mayor Wincen Cuy said the listing was great for the outback city. He said it would raise the international profile of Broken Hill and provide a resilient community with the momentum to endure the effects of a struggling economy going forward.
