Our say | Well, you can never have too many friends

Cirencester, about 130km north west of London, is set to become a spiritual sibling of Bathurst following the signing of a friendship agreement between the two cities.

Plans for the agreement were first discussed during Bathurst's bicentennial year in 2015 and it has taken almost four years for formal documents to be produced.

According to the those documents, expected to be approved by councillors at the monthly Bathurst Regional Council meeting on Wednesday night, Bathurst and Cirencester will "enter a Memorandum of Understanding to explore opportunities for the collaborative development of research, the organisation of joint academic, cultural and artistic activities, the exchange of research and 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".

Which sounds quite lovely, but what does it really mean? At first glance, it's hard to see just what a relationship with Cirencester has to offer the people of Bathurst that would set it apart from other towns and cities across the world.

It certainly looks like a lovely little town and a trip to the Cotswolds would be on the bucket list for many Bathurst residents, particularly those with any English heritage in their family trees.

But if council is going to go ahead with the friendship agreement - or, more to the point, go ahead with the expense of sending council-funded delegates to Cirencester - then the challenge will be explaining why.

Admittedly, there has been a good start in this space, and the interest from Cirencester has been warm and enthusiastic.

Delegates to visit Bathurst have taken back our city's best wishes and, presumably, talked up the destination as a place to visit for any townspeople planning a trip down under. At the same time, Bathurst locals who have visited Cirencester have been welcomed with open arms and there has also been talk of setting up a shop in each city to sell wares from the other side of the world.

The question, though, is whether ratepayers can be convinced all this is worth paying $4000 a head to send delegates to Cirencester for the agreement signing?

For now, let's hope it is. After all, you can never have too many friends.