BATHURST mayor Bobby Bourke is refusing to let the old ambulance station become another TAFE building, saying he expects it to be utilised within three years.
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The former ambulance station in William Street is now officially in Bathurst Regional Council's possession after it was effectively gifted by the NSW Government in late 2018.
Cr Bourke said the premises will need serious work before it will be fit for use, but the acquisition is a big step.
"This is good news for us as council. It's a long process of acquiring these buildings, even though they were gifted to us, it's still a responsibility and red tape in acquiring it," he said.
"What I see here is a large part of the CBD that will become an asset of council. Council already runs the Haymarket Reserve, Scallywags, they have the building next door to the ambulance station, so it is a very large block that council will have control of and I can see it being used for commercial and community use.
"A lot of this will take a long time to address."
He said the property will become a priority of council, to ensure that it doesn't end up like the old TAFE building, which formally came into council's care in 2016 and has remained dormant.
"I'll be trying my hardest as mayor to hurry this up. The TAFE building has just been sitting there for too long now," he said.
"We just need to sort out the red tape - and there's a lot of it.
"I'm going to make sure this is not another TAFE building."
The old ambulance station, which Cr Bourke described as a "rabbit warren", will need to be made safer and accessible before it can be repurposed.
Cr Bourke also said the building had to be secured, suggesting that more closed-circuit television (CCTV) would be installed in the vicinity.
"We've got to make sure it is secured so it doesn't get vandalised," he said.
Council will carry out public consultation to help determine the future use of the building, which Cr Bourke wants to see begin by the middle of next year.
"There will be consultation with the community on what they would like to see in here and there will be an opportunity to hear what council would like to see in here, and I hope that will be in the middle of next year we can get something going, and once that consultation is over and the safety of the building, all those sorts of works, are done, it'll be a great asset," he said.
"... With all the reports we've got to get and the public consultation, in 2022, 2023, I could see someone in here."
