THE word “Bathurst” will finally appear permanently on the side of Mount Panorama in 26-metre high letters following years of lobbying within Bathurst Regional Council.
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Council has agreed to make Bathurst a permanent fixture below the Mount Panorama sign – now it just has to work out how to make it happen.
The steep topography of the Mount and the sheer size of the letters are creating some engineering challenges for council staff who say the entire project will cost around $500,000.
But council believes the marketing value of having the city’s name beamed into lounge rooms across the globe each time a major race in held on the circuit will repay that investment many times over.
A report to Wednesday night’s meeting of council secured the next step in the process of having the permanent sign installed as councillors voted to seek to have a portion of the land reclassified.
The sign, once completed, will cross three separate lots on the Mount – one owned by council, one owned by the Crown and the third an unconstructed council road.
Council will need permission from the Department of Industry to have the sign permanently installed on the section of Crown land but as the reserve is currently earmarked for the preservation of wildlife, the department would have to agree to it being reclassified.
“(The department) strongly recommends that council make application to modify the reserve purpose to include the addition to purpose of ‘public recreation’,” a report to councillors stated.