In 2021, Jess Jennings was confident he'd come up with an idea that would revitalise McPhillamy Park.

The councillor has become the mayor of Bathurst since then, and when it came time to sit down with the council's directors to get to work on his 'SkyBar' idea, he was delivered quite a reality check.

His grand plan was not a "quick and easy win" as he'd thought in 2021. In fact, it was practically impossible to achieve.

Cr Jennings said there is simply too much red tape to overcome.

"It's not so much the space couldn't be transformed, it's the type of use that it currently has doesn't permit it, and you would have to renovate and change use, and that opens up a huge can of worms," he said.

"There's multiple different types of land status across that site, which in itself is pretty much a disaster for trying to change the use for food and beverage."

But does that mean the idea could absolutely never happen?

Not necessarily.

Cr Jennings said the right operator could turn Castrol Tower into something amazing, but it would be a very expensive project.

"A good operator I think could utilise that space, even though it's awkward, but the reality is the regulations on the existing land are so great that it's just not worth the effort," he said.

"And it would cost a fortune, like, literally, you're probably talking millions of dollars to change the use.

"So, in that sense, just let sleeping dogs lie and try and get a win by activating the park with a no-dig activation policy for things like pop-up food and beverage."

The first pop-up food van started trading in McPhillamy Park on Tuesday, April 16.

Little Vintage Blends will park its coffee van there one day a week for a three-month trial, serving up hot and cold beverages, as well as hot food and sweet treats.

If it's a success, the van could become a permanent fixture on the Mount and increase its days of operation.

Cr Jennings believes this could help to activate McPhillamy Park, bringing more locals and visitors to the top of the mountain.

And, importantly, it can make that happen far quicker and for significantly less money than the conservation management plan he has sought.

"We're advised that that's going to cost $300,000, which is money we don't have," Cr Jennings said.

"Even if we had the money tomorrow, that whole process would take 12 to 18 months, maybe two years, so realistically you're talking probably four or five years before we had a document in place that could then progress any kind of upgrade or community infrastructure maintenance up there at all.

"I'm a strong believer in direct action and if we can have a no-dig direct action approach to McPhillamy Park, whereby we're not disturbing the soil, but we are actually utilising it in all sorts of passive ways ... things like that I think could really bring the top of Mount Panorama Wahluu to life for all of Bathurst."