Barnson Pty Ltd submitted the development application (DA) for a vacant 1.24 hectare site, located at 1 Rankin Street, between the existing Bathurst Mowerland site and the river.

The proposal is for a staged mixed-use redevelopment, including a commercial building which will contain four 250 square metre office tenancies, along with eight dwellings forming multi-dwelling housing.

Stage one would involved the remediation of the site, construction of a single storey commercial building which will contain four individual tenancies and associated car parks.

Stage two would see the construction of eight semi-detached dwellings. The detail of stage two will be subject to a subsequent DA.

The DA’s Statement of Environmental Effects (SoEE) states that the land was the site of previous commercial and industrial development which has since been demolished.

A number of contamination assessments were undertaken at the site which found lead and benzoapyrene that exceeded commercial and residential land use thresholds. Asbestos cement fragments were also found along the bank.

“A subsequent Remediation Action Plan (RAP) was prepared by Envirowest Consulting Pty Ltd in October 2016,” the SoEE stated.

“It was prepared to develop an effective plan in order to remediate the site to be suitable for commercial and residential land uses.”

The SoEE states that the redevelopment site is at the edge of the Bathurst Conservation Heritage Area.