COUNCILLOR John Fry will this week make a formal attempt to have the planned go-kart track relocated to a new spot within the Mount Panorama precinct.
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It has taken a long time for a location for a go-kart track to be settled on, with Bathurst Regional Council finally approving a development application (DA) for a site on top of Mount Panorama in September 2015.
A modification to the DA to extend the length of the circuit was proposed in 2016 and took more than two years for council to approve, with the contentious location sparking a lot of debate.
Only councillors Fry and Monica Morse voted against the modification.
Now, a year and half later, Cr Fry has renewed his calls for the circuit to be built elsewhere and submitted a notice of motion to council's June ordinary meeting.
The notice of motion proposes "That the go kart track, currently approved to be located in McPhillamy Park Mount Panorama, be relocated approximately one kilometre west to the property currently owned by Bathurst Regional Council".
The notice of motion comes as little surprise, as it was only last month that Cr Fry spoke about wanting to move the circuit in response to deputy mayor Ian North requesting the go-kart track be considered for inclusion in the 2020-21 budget.
He feels the site on top of Mount Panorama holds too much cultural significance for the Wiradyuri community to build it there.
The site to the west would allow the track to stay at Mount Panorama, without doing significant harm to the area's cultural heritage, and would add to the second circuit precinct.
"[Cultural heritage] is one factor, an important factor. The other main reason is I want the best possible track in the best possible location," he said.
"If we're going to the trouble of building a go-kart track which is virtually international standard ... let's have it in a place where we can manage it better, instead of in the middle of a public park."
The notice of motion will be discussed and voted on at Wednesday night's meeting.
Cr Fry is uncertain of how the numbers will fall.
"It will probably reflect what's going on in the community. It will be probably down the middle, but I'm hoping we might get five votes," he said.
"I have had discussions with some [councillors] and several have told me they're undecided on the issue, so they're not really telling me which way they'll go until Wednesday night."
He said changing the location now would not affect the timeline for building the circuit, as there is no money for the project at this time.
