REPRESENTATIVES of the newly-formed Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission visited Bathurst on Monday to tour the site that will become its headquarters.
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Office space on the second floor of the Bathurst Post Office building will house the commission, which is due to commence its operations by July 1, 2018.
The space the commission will lease from Bathurst Regional Council is 807 square metres and currently has a largely open-plan design with a few offices and kitchen area.
It is expected to house 64 full-time staff and a up to 30 part-time staff.
Mayor Graeme Hanger and council staff joined chief commissioner Alan Brown and project manager Stacey Bennett for the tour.
Mr Brown said Bathurst was the ideal location for the commission headquarters, given its proximity to Sydney and the relatively modest amount of greyhound racing conducted in Bathurst.
It was chosen out of around five recommendations after an independent review.
“It is actually quite a nice regional centrepoint for the investigators and the stewards to work from,” Mr Brown said.
“Additionally, we didn’t want to be based in an area which had a high concentration of greyhound racing, so the commission staff weren’t going to be mixing a lot with industry participants.
“If you’re an integrity organisation, you’ve got to ensure there is not too much familiarity with those who work in the industry and those who are employed to administer it.”
He added that Bathurst already had a good workforce, which would help in setting up the commission.
The role of the commission will be to promote and protect the welfare of greyhounds, safeguard integrity and maintain public confidence in the greyhound racing industry.
Mr Brown said the commission will work with different agencies and use its extensive powers of surveillance and ability to prosecute to remove people from the industry who are doing the wrong thing.
Senior executive positions for the commission are expected to be advertised next week now that a location for the headquarters has been secured.
Mr Brown said it will take around six to eight weeks to fill these positions.
Once these positions are filled, more staff can be hired.
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