Ex-Sydneysider STUART PEARSON looks at Bathurst and its future from the perspective of a new resident.
One of our community's greatest assets sits quietly on our doorstep.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is not Mount Panorama. Nor is it the Macquarie River. It is not the railway precinct at the end of Keppel Street. It is not even Charles Sturt University.
As crucially important as all the above locations are to the vibrancy, vitality, and viability of Bathurst, there is one other location that has the potential to surpass them all. Somewhere you may have already been ...
OTHER RECENT FRESH PAIR OF EYES COLUMNS:
Intrigued?
Across Durham Street near the entrance to Bathurst CBD lies 16 hectares (40 acres) of prime riverfront land. It is called the Bathurst Showground.
Some facts about the showground may surprise you.
The Bathurst Agricultural, Horticultural and Pastoral Association (Bathurst AH and P) is the third oldest agricultural society in NSW. It was established in 1862, three years after the Agricultural Society of NSW and the Hunter River Agricultural and Horticultural Association, which were both founded in 1859.
The Bathurst AH and P started holding shows in and around Bathurst in 1863, making the Bathurst Show the oldest in the state. In comparison, Singleton started in 1868, Maitland 1873 and Glenn Innes 1874.
In 1878, the Bathurst Show moved to its current location nestled between Bathurst CBD and the Macquarie River, making it one of the longest continuing shows in NSW operating from the same location.
The Royal Bathurst Show is recognised as second only to Sydney in regards to its importance and size, demonstrating a continuing connection for over 150 years with Bathurst - the oldest inland settlement in mainland Australia - as well as the rest of the Central West of NSW.
It is a little-known fact that the Royal Bathurst Show attracts almost as many people to its annual event as does the Bathurst 1000 to Mount Panorama.
The showground has enjoyed a marvellous past, especially when agriculture was the dominant industry in the Bathurst region. But times have changed, and so has the economy of Bathurst.
A century ago, the Bathurst region was mainly engaged in primary production (broadacre farming, horticulture and grazing), but has since evolved into the centre of health, education and professional services to an expanded region of nearly 100,000 people.
Let me make myself clear. The Bathurst Showground still plays a vitally important role in showcasing the absolute best that the land has to offer. But it also should be moving with the times and finding new events and activities to present to the public.
In recent times, this wonderfully iconic and heritage listed community asset has somewhat lost its way.
It does not really know what direction it should follow, and this makes it our problem. The Bathurst community's problem.
There are roughly 35 buildings of high architectural merit in the showground precinct, dating from 1879 to the present, but a series of floods over the past three decades has had a negative impact on the quality and longevity of these historic masterpieces.
A great deal of money has been spent flood-proofing the entire city with levy banks. Yet, this iconic set of buildings needs to be loved once again.
The more we use them, the more money there is for remediation and regular maintenance of the showground buildings, and the longer our future generations will enjoy them as we have.
Currently, these heritage-listed buildings are in fair-to-poor condition.
The newly appointed administrator of the Bathurst Showground Land Management Trust (local accountant and military historian Andrew Fletcher) has his work cut out.
First, he must find funding immediately to repair and make good the accumulated damage to these heritage buildings. Then he must find a way for the showground to pay for itself in the future.
It will be a big task, but the reason for writing this article is to state categorically that it should not be the task of only one person.
The showground is one of our greatest community assets that unfortunately has become under-resourced and unclear as to its future. This makes it our problem.
