COUNCILLORS have gone in to bat for the Bathurst City Community Club (BCCC) to secure a $15,000 loan for the preservation of historic brick foundations found at the club.
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In a report to Bathurst Regional Council from the director of corporate services and finances, Bob Roach, it was recommended the BCCC be given a loan of $10,000 at an interest rate of 7.74 per cent repayable over a 10-year period.
But deputy mayor Ian North moved to raise the amount of the loan to $15,000, with Councillor Bobby Bourke seconding the motion.
“If we can add this extra $5000, I guess it’s a responsibility put onto the club, but us as council and the community club themselves will continue to look at ways that loan can be paid off quicker through chasing funding grants and things as such,” Cr North said.
“But the fact of the matter is that we need to move on; they currently just do not have the money … I think if council can help them here, we can get the process going, you can get the renovations done, they can continue to move on as a club and they are going to be self-sufficient going forward.”
The motion passed with the support of all councillors.
BCCC manager Rebecca Mathie said the club was “extremely grateful” to have their request for financial assistance approved by council.
The cost of the project to preserve the historic bricks, which were uncovered during digging works for the club’s new beer garden, is estimated to cost in excess of $20,000.
Prior to the approval of the loan, council had provided the BCCC with a grant of $6000 from the Conservation and Interpretation Fund to help with the cost.
Ms Mathie said she wasn’t surprised that councillors suggested an additional $5000.
“The council members are very passionate about preserving Bathurst heritage, so we weren’t surprised they all rallied around us,” she said.
The council members are very passionate about preserving Bathurst heritage.
- Community Club's Rebecca Mathie
The bricks will be preserved under a glass floor, which members of the community are welcome to view after the grand opening of the beer garden in the summer.
Bathurst historian Dr Rob McLachlan believes the foundations were part of the kitchen of the 1981 police barracks.
“We’re pretty certain that the Aboriginal trackers lived in there with the cook,” he said.
