Plans for the friendship agreement started during Bathurst's bicentennial year of 2015 following a visit to the city by the ninth Earl and Countess Bathurst, who call Cirencester home.

Since then there has been a number of delegate exchanges between the two centres, most recently when 18-year-old Alice Chandler came to Bathurst last October on a trip funded by the Cirencester Community Development Trust in collaboration with Cirencester Town Council.

A report to Wednesday night's Bathurst Regional Council meeting by corporate services and finance director Aaron Jones says a delegation will be sent to Cirencester to execute the friendship agreement.

"The Friendship Agreement will explore opportunities for the collaborative development of research, the organisation of joint academic, cultural and artistic activities, the exchange of research teaching personnel and students, the exchange of publications and other materials of common interest, the exchange of business and commercial interest and such other collaborative activities that may be agreed between the parties," the report states.

Mr Jones' report says Cirencester is a town in the Gloucestershire region of England. It is in the Cotswolds not far from Bath.

The passing of the Local Government Act in England in 1894 brought into existence Cirencester's first independent elected body, the Urban District Council.

The reorganisation of the local government system in 1974 replaced this council with a two-tier system of Cotswold District Council and Cirencester Town Council.

Under the patronage of the Bathurst family, the Cirencester area - and most notably Sapperton - became a major centre for the Arts and Crafts movement in the Cotswolds.

During the 2015 celebrations in Bathurst, discussions were held with the Earl and Countess Bathurst about exploring the opportunity for developing a sister city relationship with Cirencester.

The initial friendship agreement with Cirencester will be for a period of three years.