THE efforts of objectors to prevent modification to a development application proved unsuccessful on Wednesday night.
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A public forum at Bathurst Regional Council’s extraordinary meeting gave people in the public gallery the opportunity to speak on the proposal regarding a go-kart track at Mount Panorama.
Speakers alternated between for and against upon request from mayor Graeme Hanger.
As with a previous public forum, debate often fell to the location of the track, not the modifications that councillors were voting on.
Iain McPherson, who is heavily involved with heritage preservation in Bathurst, warned councillors that, by approving the proposal, they would be opening the city up to negative media attention at every level.
“If council tonight approves the amended development application, what scenarios might follow?” he said.
“Will we have continuing long-term dispute, long-term delay, every legal avenue being explored with associated costs, disappointment, angry words and angry dispute, negative regional, state, national and international media attention?
“That’s the sort of story of conflict that media will just latch onto.
“There will be damage to the Mount Panorama brand across the world. Damage to and undermining of the Wiradyuri reconciliation story in Bathurst, of which we should be able to proud after 2015.”
Mr McPherson also felt council would struggle to secure funding from higher levels of government, given the strong opposition to the location of the facility.
Councillors were reminded by several speakers that no one was opposed to Bathurst having a go-kart track, however it should not be built at Mount Panorama.
“I do echo the point that to build a go-kart track in opposition to the Wiradyuri elders is something we just don’t need to do as a community,” Tracy Sorensen said.
“We can have a world standard go-kart track somewhere else.”
Another speaker, Sister Patricia Powell, said Aboriginal culture was and would always be significant, but motor sport as we know it could have a short lifespan.
“Unless cars and go-karts convert quickly to electricity or other renewable sources of fuel, the lifespan of car racing on Mount Panorama could well be shorter rather than longer as pressure mounts on governments to reduce fossil fuel emissions,” she said.
Following the forum, councillors discussed the proposal before casting their votes, which resulted in the recommendations before them being passed.
