AFTER seeing Cirencester resident Alice Chandler embrace life in Bathurst, councillor Jess Jennings hopes to see more people exchanged between the two cities.
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Ms Chandler arrived in Bathurst on October 6 for a three-week stay as part of the city's growing sister city relationship with Cirencester in England.
As part of her trip so far, she has attended the Bathurst 1000, worked with the Bathurst Youth Council and generally experienced different aspects of life in Bathurst.
Last Tuesday, she spent a day at the Eglinton property owned by Graham and Merylyn Russell, helping with their cattle.
She was accompanied by Cr Jennings, who had a lot of praise for what her visit has achieved for the sister city relationship.
"The main thing is for us to get to understand and know each other," he said.
"Having Alice come and do some farm work is a pretty typical day in the life of a Bathurst farmer.
"It's good to be able to have someone come from Cirencester and really immerse them in the work and the culture of Bathurst."
He said he would like to see her visit replicated in the future, perhaps with Bathurst Regional Council sending someone to Cirencester.
"Alice is providing a sterling example of representing her town and hopefully in response to this our council and our city can send someone over there in future and build the relationship more," Cr Jennings said.
The visit to the farm was made possible by Mr and Mrs Russell's own visit to Cirencester.
They put their property forward as a destination for Ms Chandler and embraced the opportunity to show her what life on the land is like.
Cr Jennings said that having members of the community involved in an initiative like this can only make it more successful.
"Outside council, the community can enhance the initiative and grow the relationship themselves, it doesn't have to all be done by council itself," he said.
Cirencester plans to send another student to Bathurst next year and will use the insights gained by Ms Chandler to support the next candidate.
