BATHURST Regional Council hopes to have most of the work completed on a Llanarth park by the end of the financial year.
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Tenders have been called and accepted for the work, according to director of engineering services Darren Sturgiss, and work is due to start within a month or so before the weather gets too cold.
Freeman Park, which will cost almost $1 million, is at Freeman Circuit, off Darwin Drive, on a parcel of land set aside by council when the area was opening up for housing in 2014.
It will include park entrances in the south-eastern and north-western corners, paths, exercise stations, a barbecue area and play area.
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Mayor Graeme Hanger said residents in the vicinity were consulted about what they wanted in the park.
“There will be active areas, passive areas, fitness stations; seats to watch people on the fitness stations,” he said of the park.
Cr Hanger said it was important to have green spaces to complement Bathurst’s growing residential areas.
“You can't just put up a million houses and have nothing for them,” he said.
The NSW Government provided a $100,000 grant towards the cost of the park.
There will be active areas, passive areas.
“The Freeman Park development has been designed following an extensive community consultation process, with input into the chosen design elements provided by the general community and residents of the area,” Member for Bathurst Paul Toole said.
He said the NSW Government saw the value in keeping green space.
The 1.2-hectare Freeman Park is the centrepiece of the Avonlea 9 subdivision developed by council in 2014.
There were 17 premium lots in the subdivision that were sold in a council ballot, and each of them faces on to the reserve.
Council put aside $300,000 in its 2017-18 budget to construct the park, but the Advocate reported in January last year that the cost of the project was underestimated.
A report to councillors by engineering services director Darren Sturgiss recommended the plan be shelved for 12 months so extra money could be put aside in the next year’s budget.
“Council may be aware that $300,000 was placed within the 2017-18 management plan for the design and development of Freeman Park,” his report said.
“Unfortunately, due to the large area involved and without a design completed at the time, the cost to develop this park, even at a very basic level, was underestimated.”
