THE cultural studies have been done, the designs have been drawn and the development has been approved; now Bathurst Kart Club members are counting down the days until work begins on the city's new $4.5 million go-kart track.
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The start of work in McPhillamy Park next Monday will be a red-letter day for some club members who have been working for more than two decades on establishing a track in Bathurst.
And with an estimated 26-week build time for the track, there's every chance Bathurst could be hosting its first karting meeting before the end of the year.
Despite vocal and ongoing opposition to the choice of site for the track, including an online petition that has now attracted more than 9000 signatures calling for Bathurst Regional Council to move the track, club president Mark Dunbar remains confident it will become another jewel in Bathurst's crown of top quality sporting facilities.
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"The cultural studies have been done, the actual planning of the track and the design of the track has been done," he said.
"It's been taken to Karting NSW and Karting Australia and it's been sent to the international bodies to be passed.
"We're just terribly excited and we know there's some opposition there, there's no doubt about that, but we're just hoping we can move forward.
"I would like to have seen an amicable solution [so] we could have all been up there in harmony and used it together but I'm quite sure that once the track's finished that it will be a great asset for Bathurst."
Mr Dunbar believed state and federal grants would be made available once work on the track was under way but supported council borrowing $2.25 million to get construction started.
He said the track would provide a great boost to the Bathurst economy."We will have our club meets there every four to five weeks and we're hoping to have at least three or four major events a year," he said.
"And with a track like this, I wouldn't even like to guesstimate how many people would come but, if COVID didn't interfere, you would bringing them from everywhere in Australia.
"We've had inquiries from the Vintage Car Club of Australia, and NSW, that would love to hold a world get-together up there and there's lots of other [organisations] who have made inquiries hoping to be involved."
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