A LANEWAY off Keppel Street is to be formally declared a public road more than 170 years after it first came into use.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The laneway runs behind businesses at 203-233 George Street and has been used as a public access for most of its history.
The question of ownership only came to light, however, when the business owners offered to have the laneway upgraded and sealed.
Research by Bathurst Regional Council staff revealed the laneway was first set surveyed as part of a new subdivision in 1841 and at that stage remained owned by George Morton.
Some time after, though, it became accepted as a public road as shown by the construction of kerbing and guttering in the early 1900s and the presence of public services in the lane, including a sewer line and two sewer manholes.
Council will now formally apply to have the lane gazetted as a public road and then the business owners can begin work on upgrading the lane.
