THE Ben Chifley Dam wall should be raised another metre to provide water security for a rapidly growing city, says Bathurst Regional Council candidate Warren Aubin.
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Cr Aubin, who has served on council for nine years, is leading a five-person ticket for the second time at the September 9 local government election.
Number two on his Bathurst First ticket is high-profile retired publican Robert “Stumpy” Taylor, with Judy Doulman, Wayne Loader and Benjamin Fry rounding out his team.
Cr Aubin said his team was campaigning on three major policy platforms: raising the dam wall again; a second circuit and Velocity Park development; and upgrading Hereford Street to take increased traffic loads.
“I’ve got figures that show if we can raise the dam wall by a metre it would double the water capacity when full to about 60,000 megalitres,” he said.
“It’s a major project given the future growth of Bathurst.
“The other option would be to look at building another dam somewhere.
“We can’t just keep sticking pipes in the river and trying to live off it because it’s not feasible.”
Cr Aubin has long been a supporter of the second track proposal but said people needed to understand it was much more than just another racing circuit.
“I’ve looked at other closed circuits at Wakefiled Park (Goulburn), Sydney Motorsport Park (Eastern Creek) and Winton (Victoria) and they’re booked out every single day except Christmas Day until mid 2019,” he said.
“It’s not just for racing. Eastern Creek is even booked for a week for cross country championships and then there are track days, driver training, motoring magazines that want to do a photo shoot and car manufacturers who want to book the track for their clients to take the new model for a drive.
“Then there’s the employment side – once Velocity Park is up we will have the motor racing industry and associated industry coming to set up here.
“We’ve already had Supercars teams say once it’s built they will come.”
Cr Aubin said the city needed a better link to Kelso to cater for a growing population east of the Macquarie River.
“That’s our major growth area but Hereford Street now looks like Parramatta Road in the morning and afternoon,” he said.
“We need to do some investigation to see if it’s viable to make it dual lane with a dual lane roundabout on Gilmour Street or if it is more feasible to build a second road coming into town.”
Cr Aubin also wants to see council release new industrial land to encourage more businesses to relocate from Sydney.
