IT has been 12 months since a community consultation forum was held to inform Bathurst’s new entrance statement, but no final decisions have been made.
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Bathurst Regional Council tasked dsb landscaping architects with the responsibility of designing an entrance statement for the city to welcome visitors.
The public forum was one of several methods used to obtain ideas to inform the statement, the others being an online survey and consultation with community groups.
- READ MORE: City’s statement ideas
A spokesperson for council said the consultants were now in the process of finalising the various entrance statement concepts.
“This is anticipated to take another few months to complete,” they said.
“The costing is part of the consultancy and will be undertaken when designs are completed.”
Councillor Jess Jennings has his own ideas about how the entrance to Bathurst should be revamped.
He said he would like to see the entrance statement, to be built at on a parcel of land near Evans Bridge, honour the city’s agricultural history.
“My personal preference is that we make a strong statement that recognises Bathurst as the home of regional Australia,” Cr Jennings said.
“We’re the first inland European settlement; we’ve got to get out that message.
“We’ve also had the defacto entrance statement, that has been the gold panner – and that has served Bathurst really well, symbolising the gold rush – but it is about time Bathurst council stepped up and put something significant here.”
Cr Jennings said historians have told him the first seeds of wheat were sown close to the site for the entrance statement, an indication of Bathurst’s significance to Australian agriculture.
During public consultation, there was some talk of the entrance statement relating to Mount Panorama as it is arguably the icon of Bathurst.
However, some said they wanted the entrance statement to reflect other aspects that shape the city.
Cr Jennings said he felt Mount Panorama could take a back seat this time, particularly if council adopts another suggestion of his, which is to replace the signage at the same location.
He said the signage advertising Mount Panorama didn’t need to be redesigned, however the aging metal sign should be replaced.
“It’s faded, cracked, warped, split, looks atrocious and we need to respect and welcome the race fans that come here; having a sign like that is not a good look,” Cr Jennings said.
Ideally, the signage would be replaced before the Bathurst 1000 at the start of October.
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