It’s been a stormy seven days in Bathurst.
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Up until the weekend, thunder and lightning seemed to have been rolling in over the horizon almost daily, but the rain that came with it was dramatically erratic – Thursday delivered millimetres in the single digits to west Bathurst and almost 50 millimetres to Raglan.
And that wasn’t based on anecdotal evidence: Weatherzone confirmed as much when contacted on Friday, using the readings from the weather stations dotted across the city.
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There were two other storms this week, though, that were of the metaphorical, rather than meteorological, kind.
The smaller of the two was over the news that Bathurst Regional Council had approved a subdivision at Kelso that is set to bring more than 300 new homes to that booming part of the city.
It might have gone unremarked upon if not for the fact that Bathurst moved to level three water restrictions in late November.
And so it was remarked upon – by a letter writer, who asked what water all these new homes would be using, and by a number of angry readers on our Facebook page.
Council, when contacted by the Advocate, said Chifley Dam has enough capacity for the city’s current and future growth and Bathurst’s water consumption has remained extremely consistent over the past 10 years despite the growing population.
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The much bigger storm this past week, though, was over Charles Sturt University's announcement that it was considering a name change.
The change – part of what the university calls a “refresh” – drew a reaction that has ranged so far from bewildered to angry.
Why: that seemed to be the most common question. And it has to be said that the university has yet to provide a really compelling answer.
The Advocate featured a number of ex-students’ views on the name change this past week, but there was a clear standout.
Graduate Aleks Krajcer wrote about how three of his educational institutions – Bathurst West Public, All Saints’ College and CSU – had either changed something fundamental (a crest, a motto, a name) or had plans to do so.
“I hadn’t considered the current identity of my pre-school,” he wrote. “Do I dare find out?”
As those in Raglan found out this past week, it never rains but it pours.
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