A PROPOSED $7 million redevelopment of the Westpoint Shopping Centre at Windradyne is a $7 million vote of confidence in the city’s direction – literally and figuratively.
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It’s an acknowledgement of Bathurst Regional Council’s land releases on that side of town and it’s an acknowledgement of the city’s expansion more generally as its growth spurt shows no signs of ending.
After years of focusing on the Kelso area, land release attention has recently turned to Eglinton and Windradyne to satisfy the hunger for new homes.
The ballot for council’s first stage of the Windradyne 1000 land release was held in mid-May 2015 and the 57 new lots, ranging in size from around 810 to 1060 square metres and on the market for $165,000 to $180,000, were all subsequently sold.
The ballot for stage two’s 67 lots, ranging in size from 690 to 1148 square metres and from $160,000 to $180,000, was held in late November 2015 and the lots have since all been sold bar two that are on hold.
Mayor Gary Rush, talking in September last year, said council’s next residential land development would also be in Windradyne: a proposed release of more than 170 lots to significantly add to the suburb’s population.
It’s little wonder the Westpoint centre would be looking increasingly ripe for redevelopment.
The satellite shopping centres at Windradyne and Trinity Heights are good for the city both for what they do have – bakeries, small supermarkets, newsagencies, takeaways – and what they don’t.
They have never replaced the shopping experience offered in the centre of town, avoiding the hollowing-out effect suffered by other major cities that have allowed too many of their retailers to set up in new homes on the outskirts of the urban area.
Westpoint and Trinity Heights, it could be argued, are the Goldlilocks developments of the suburbs. They are not too small, where they would struggle to provide a reason for residents to visit and spend their money, and they are not too big, where they would begin to replace the CBD as a destination for socialising. They are just right.
And the timing of this latest expansion at Westpoint, if it goes ahead, would appear to be just right as well.
The city’s edge is creeping ever westwards, and council has made it clear it is planning for more residents on that side of town.
As Windradyne grows, Westpoint is ready to grow with it.