BATHURST could soon have a two-storey drive-through bakery on the outskirts of the central business district if councillors adopt the advice from senior council staff.
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Bathurst Regional Council will consider a development application (DA) at Wednesday night's meeting, which proposes to build a Village Bakehouse outlet on the corner of Durham and Rankin streets.
An existing house at 105 Durham Street and a commercial building, formerly a car salesroom, will need to be demolished to make way for the outlet and a 24-space car park.
The DA also proposes the construction of a garbage holding shed, construction of one-metre high retaining walls, the installation of acoustic walls that are at least two metres high, and the installation of signage.
Council's planning staff recommend that the plans be approved, with more than 100 conditions of consent attached to that approval.
If councillors agree with those recommendations, it would see conditions imposed related to traffic at the intersection.
Earlier versions of the plans including ingress from Durham Street into the front car park, which both council and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) raised concerns about.
Plans have since been amended to eliminate that ingress.
Amendments have been made to the Traffic Impact Assessment, based on the expectation that TfNSW would install traffic lights at the intersection in the near future, but that is not the case.
Advice from TfNSW in April states that the planned upgrade, to occur within the next two years, will not involve traffic lights.
If council resolves to adopt the recommendation, one of the conditions of consent will be that an occupation certificate must not be issued until such time the intersection has been upgraded by TfNSW, or suitable alternative arrangements have been made to alleviate the traffic impacts of the development to the satisfaction of council and TfNSW.
If these conditions are met, the director of Environmental, Planning and Building Services said "it is considered that the proposed development will not result in any significant impacts on traffic and pedestrian safety both on and off site".
Although the recommendation is to approve the plans, the director, Neil Southorn, has provided a list of reasons for refusal of consent if council "is not satisfied that the development has other prevailing planning benefits, or that the development cannot exist in harmony with the surrounding residential area".
The list of reasons includes the impact of noise and lighting on the amenity of the area, and the potential impact demolishing the existing house could have on "the historic significance and scenic quality of the Bathurst Heritage Conservation Area".
