Bathurst Goldfields is set to expand

The function centre, located on Conrod Straight at Mount Panorama, has long been a place for tourism, especially with school student groups visiting the city.

“We have 22,000 children here a year that most of Bathurst don’t know about,” Ms Campbell said.

She said her recently-approved development application (DA) to expand Bathurst Goldfields will be a boost for the centre as well as the wider community.

The extensive works will see the function centre grow from a capacity of 180 people to 500 people.

With the extension approved, Ms Campbell hopes to capture a greater proportion of the wedding market.

“It will be a premium wedding venue,” she said.

The DA shows the existing function centre will be modified to incorporate multi-purpose areas that can be used for dining and music.

There will also be a new kitchen and new amenities area added.

The additional amenities, portico and store room will measure 107.85 square metres, with the proposed function buildings at 164.35 square metres. The total expansion will add 272.2 square metres to the facility.

Ms Campbell said the extension will also allow her to cater to larger education groups as well as school graduations.

“This will be great for school children,” she said. “It’ll give the business the ability to grow. It’ll bring in more schools and bring in more events.

“We couldn’t cater for a school grad before because we didn’t have the area.”

Ms Campbell and her mother Ruth Lennon took over running Bathurst Goldfields in early 2015 after the financially struggling Anglican Diocese of Bathurst signed off on local firm Designer Events to run the business under licence.

At the time, Ms Campbell said this secured the jobs of 25 people working at the Goldfields.

“We’ve changed a lot of things [since 2015] and upgraded our infrastructure and we think we’ve got it right,” Ms Campbell said.

Construction is expected to be completed by September.