WORK will begin on two new sporting fields on Hereford Street next year as part of an ambitious $6.2 million plan for the precinct.
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The space between the existing Bathurst Bulldogs rugby union complex and St Pat’s rugby league complex will be developed to create an overall precinct of six fields capable of hosting regional and state carnivals and events.
Bathurst Regional Council will invest $3.6 million and has received $2.6m from the NSW Government to pay for the works.
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Using that money, council will build the two new fields, for rugby league or rugby union; a sealed car park for about 1400 vehicles; a roundabout to make it easier to get into the precinct; and an amenities building to service the two new fields.
The announcement of the $6.2m plan comes less than 12 months since the St Pat’s club started using its new complex at the Macquarie River end of Hereford Street.
St Pat’s president Dave Chapman said it made sense to develop the space between the two existing complexes.
“Looking at it now, there's a couple of gum trees and a lot of weeds,” he said.
He said the CBD’s Carrington Park, where the Penrith Panthers play as part of their long-term deal to bring a National Rugby League game to Bathurst each year, could continue to host major one-off matches.
But he said the Hereford Street precinct would be able to cater for major carnivals.
“I would expect Bathurst to be inundated with requests,” he said.
Mr Chapman said the St Pat’s club was only just getting over the excitement of moving to its new home on Hereford Street and “we may have thought that was it for a while to come”.
He said those in the city’s hospitality sector would be “rubbing their hands together” knowing the influx that would come when the precinct started hosting major carnivals.
Bathurst deputy mayor Bobby Bourke was confident the new precinct would bring sporting teams to town.
“It will attract a lot of people from right outside Bathurst,” he said. “And that's what we want as a council.”
He said the completed precinct would be likely to offer the “best facilities in the Central West”.
Bathurst Bulldogs’ Brian Roberson said his club had been in Hereford Street for 10 years and this latest announcement gave the Bulldogs confidence about the future.
It will attract a lot of people.
Member for Bathurst Paul Toole, meanwhile, said the new fields would be important for the growing local population.
Bathurst mayor Graeme Hanger said work on the first stage of the works, the new fields, would start next year and he expected the entire project to be completed by 2022.
The NSW Government’s portion of the funding for the works will come from the Regional Sports Infrastructure Fund.