THE upcoming Saturday Street Fair could set the tone for a what will hopefully be a different Christmas experience in Bathurst this year.
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Deputy mayor Bobby Bourke is continuing on his quest to bring more Christmas cheer to the central business district.
The Bathurst Business Chamber was critical of council for the lack of decorations around the city last year, especially when compared to what was on offer in other regional cities.
In July, the Western Advocate reported that Cr Bourke had approached council to organise decorations, which he now says have been ordered.
He also said he wanted to see council provide some kind of entertainment in the CBD, such as a puppet show or street performers.
On Thursday, he made it clear that he hadn’t given up on that, saying that the event staff were due to come back to council with some ideas soon.
“We’ll get this race week over and then I’ll sit down with the events staff and see what we’ve got,” Cr Bourke said.
“We have put a small amount of money aside, so we’ll see what we can do.”
Loosely referred to as a ‘Christmas fair’, the event would ideally encourage locals to come into the CBD and stay longer than they normally would.
It is expected business houses would get a boost from the extra foot traffic in the CBD, but Cr Bourke said the main thing was that the community enjoyed the time of year more.
“The business houses benefit from it, but we need to benefit the community people who come down,”he said.
“We’ll have the decorations all around and hopefully the business houses will decorate their windows up, and let’s see what Bathurst Regional Council can do now and into the future at Christmas time.”
Cr Bourke said it was important residents support events council holds, such as the Saturday Street Fair, and provide feedback.
He encouraged people to make suggestions for what could be included in a Christmas event.
During the local government election campaign, the Western Advocate asked all candidates to respond on issues that had dominated public conversation.
If the responses are anything to go by, Cr Bourke shouldn’t have trouble finding support for his plans as each elected councillor wanted to improve Christmas celebrations.
