May 1: Police were investigating a fire in Culnane Place, Kelso which completely destroyed a vacant home. The Department of Housing property was empty and boarded up when emergency crews arrived. Superintendent Brett Jackson, from NSW Fire and Rescue, said flames were coming from the roof of the house.
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May 1: Bathurst Regional Council was criticised for its lack of community consultation after it boarded up a tree hollow in Machattie Park after the resident possum died. Wildlife group WIRES said council should have consulted the group, and the wider community, before making any decisions. A council spokeswoman said large amounts of uneaten food left by people for the possum in the hollow had caused the tree to start rotting. And with the natural death of the elderly possum that lived in the hollow, council closed off the hollow to allow the tree to heal.
May 5: An elderly woman appeared to have escaped serious injury after her car rolled off the George Street low level bridge. The 81-year-old Bathurst woman was trapped upside down in the car for about an hour as emergency services worked to free her. Once freed, the woman was brought out of the dry river bed on a stretcher for further assessment.
May 8: Two children were arrested by police after a fire destroyed a house in Miriyan Drive, Kelso. The two children, aged 12 and 13, were arrested by police in the vicinity not long after the fire broke out.
May 9: A sunset cocktail party raised more than $7000 for Cancer Council NSW when it was held at BoxGrove function centre. Organisers said the party attracted a great crowd and the event was well-supported by local business owners who donated items for the silent auction.
May 12: A fire destroyed a home at Walang. The owners, who were not home at the time of the fire, returned to their property to get the devastating news. Units from Fire and Rescue NSW, as well as units from the Rural Fire Service including Eglinton and Raglan, rushed to the scene, but nothing could be done to save the property or its contents.
May 15: A teenager who dragged a woman off a Bathurst street before subjecting her to a violent sexual assault was jailed for 18 years, with a non-parole period of 12 years. Alan Simmons, now 19, was sentenced in the Downing Centre District Court before Judge McLennan. Simmons was 18 at the time of the 90-minute assault and was charged by police just days after the August 2015 attack.
May 15: Chasca Kilby volunteered to have her long locks cut off in honour of her father, who died from anaplastic thyroid cancer just 10 months after he was diagnosed. She held a community event at Perthville with stalls where she also had her long hair cut off to raise funds for the Cancer Council. “It was a bit nerve-wracking and exciting, but it was really good,” she said.
May 22: JB Hi-Fi announced it was soon going to call Bathurst home. It was believed the retailer would move into the former Dick Smith store in Bathurst City Centre. Dick Smith had vacated the site early in 2016 after the parent company Dick Smith Holdings was placed into receivership and voluntary administrators were appointed.
May 22: A new $500,000 Bathurst Cardiology centre was approved for development by Bathurst Regional Council. The centre was to be constructed on a vacant block of land at 185 Durham Street, on the corner of Peel Street.
May 28: Police were investigating a suspicious fire at the Bathurst Community Op Shop that had severely damaged the building and destroyed many of the donated items. Councillor Bobby Bourke, who has had a long involvement with the op shop, was shattered. “I was just devastated to see what damage was done,” he said. “The place was just filled with smoke and water.”
May 28: As debate raged over whether a go-kart track should be approved for construction on top of Mount Panorama, Wiradyuri elders were urging the council and community to respect that the land was sacred. They said adding a kart track to Bathurst’s infrastructure would be a huge benefit for the city, but it should not be built on top of the Mount.
May 29: A Bathurst lawyer was struck off after fabricating evidence in a case against a former colleague. The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal had handed down its findings in the case against Mark Gerard Ireland, ruling that his name be removed from the local roll of lawyers and that he pay court costs for the Council of the Law Society of NSW. Ireland was found guilty of professional misconduct for fabricating a letter he claimed detailed the employment conditions of his former colleague, Daryl Pike, who started work at Mark Ireland Lawyers in March 2006.
May 30: Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre was packed to the rafters for two sessions of The Wiggles live in concert. The blue Wiggle, Anthony, was replaced by Paddy – who eagle-eyed fans would know better as Captain Feathersword – for the two shows after Anthony underwent shoulder surgery.
May 30: A 22-year-old man was charged with vandalising the Carillon War Memorial in Kings Parade. Police alleged the man used a piece of wood to smash three of the four spotlights.
