It’s not enough simply to welcome new residents to Bathurst and ensure there are plenty of building blocks opening on the city’s fringes so that they can enjoy the lifestyle in one of the state’s fastest growing cities.

Those residents are, on the whole, going to be coming in to the CBD for work each day – and the streets of the CBD aren’t getting any wider. 

The incredible boom in residential building in Kelso has changed Hereford Street completely, as Councillor Warren Aubin explains in today’s story about CBD congestion.

And that has changed George Street into a congestion hot spot in the morning and during the afternoon peak – a strange sight for those who continue to think of Bathurst as a country town immune to the problems of the big cities.

Bathurst Regional Council’s work with Roads and Maritime Services on a plan to better manage traffic movements in the CBD is to be welcomed.

A possible change is to have two lanes of traffic each way from the roundabout at Stanley and George streets leading up to the Durham Street traffic lights.

While changing the phasing of the traffic lights at Durham and George streets to allow more traffic to get in and out of the CBD during the morning and afternoon peak hours will make a difference, as will changes to pedestrian crossings, Bathurstians should not expect miracles to be worked.

A debate about CBD congestion is not too far removed from the debate about the mobile parking patrol, or the debate about a new car park tower in Bathurst.

Change is inevitable if Bathurst is going to continue growing at its current pace.

But in changing, we have to ensure we don’t lose what brought new residents in the first place.