Deputy mayor Ian North is keen to see such a project go ahead and has even identified two sites for the car park.

One is at Carrington Park, just over the road from the Stockland Bathurst car park, while the other is behind Bathurst RSL.

Both have the space required for a multi-storey car park, but would people use it?

You would want to hope so given the loud calls for CBD parking since council’s mobile parking enforcement vehicle first hit the road, but people are funny creatures.

Bathurst shoppers are still getting used to the idea that they can’t park directly outside the shop they’re visiting and the many empty on-street parking spaces along George Street suggest there is still some way to go to re-educate people.

That means CBD workers – those who are currently lining the side of the street in lower George Street – would be the ones most likely to use a new car park, even if they have to pay a small daily fee for the privilege.

So council needs to work out just how many of these displaced workers there are before committing to the millions of dollars such a development would require.

But at least the issue is now on the agenda.

A multi-storey car park is not part of council’s short-term planning – and probably isn’t needed in the short term – but Cr North is right when he says that council must also be planning for the medium and long term.

Bathurst will continue to grow and it’s council’s job to ensure new infrastructure is built before it is needed – not when we hit a crisis.

This a discussion well worth having.