The issue has been one of the staples of Bathurst Regional Council debate for the past decade, most commonly pushed along by current deputy mayor Bobby Bourke.

Councillor Bourke has raised the question in council a number of times over the years but has never found much support inside the chamber. That is changing, but perhaps not enough.

Councillors held a working party last week on whether a popularly elected mayor should finally be put to the people.

The Western Advocate understands a survey commissioned by council had found strong support for a referendum, meaning the people want to have their say.

And, by their own words, a majority of the current batch of councillors have also previously given their support to a referendum.

Just before the last council elections in 2017, the Western Advocate asked all candidates to complete a questionnaire stating their position on a number of local issues.

One of those questions was whether they would support a a referendum on the question of a popularly elected mayor and five of the successful candidates - councillors Bourke, Ian North, Alex Christian, Jacqui Rudge and Jess Jennings - all said they would.

It would only take for those five councillors to now remain true to their word for Bathurst to hold a referendum at the next full council elections in September 2020. But it may not be that easy.

Cr Christian has already conceded he is having second thoughts after seeing how "integral" the role of mayor is during his two years on council.

But it's important to be clear what councillors are debating here and what they might be committing to.

The current question is not whether they support having a popularly elected mayor. There are pros and cons on both sides of that debate but they can be thrashed out down the track.

All councillors are being asked here is whether they will agree to a referendum to let the people of Bathurst have their say.

Supporting a referendum would not commit a councillor to supporting a popularly elected mayor. But not supporting a referendum indicates councillors have little faith in the judgment of the people of Bathurst.

Surely that's not the case.