A MULTI-LEVEL CBD car park - talked about for years in Bathurst, though without any real progress being made - has a budget and a shortlist of possible sites in Orange.
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Orange City Council is asking its residents where they believe the new car park should be located.
In its long-term planning, the council has allocated $4.5 million in the 2022/23 financial year to build a new multi-level car park as part of its FutureCity CBD upgrade program.
"The project is about catering for the future growth of Orange," Orange mayor Reg Kidd said.
"In the decades to come, Orange will be an even larger retail centre for the whole region and that will mean a much larger demand for parking spaces.
"We're some time away from any detailed planning, so now's the time for weighing up the options and seeing which location will give the Orange community the best convenience, fit and value for money."
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Carrington Park has previously been suggested as a location for a multi-storey car park for the Bathurst CBD.
More recently, Bathurst RSL Club confirmed it is in negotiations with a development consortium to build a 9000 square metre medical facility on the old Clancy Motors site and in discussions with Bathurst Regional Council about plans for a multi-storey car park in the council-owned car park behind the club.
Orange has a shortlist of six possible sites for its car park so far: the Woolworths car park, between Anson and Sale streets; the Ophir car park on the corner of Kite Street and Lords Place; the Civic Centre car park, behind the council offices in Lords Place; the Sale Street car park alongside the rear of the Ex-Services Club; the car park in Little Summer Street behind the fire station; and the car park in Endsleigh Avenue opposite the former DPI building.
Cr Kidd said the council will need more information before it makes a final decision.
"For $4.5 million, I imagine we're looking at a three or four storey multi-level car park, somewhere right alongside the CBD. Structures like this in other regional centres contain first-floor retail stores or even residential apartments," he said.
"Contemporary decked car parks are designed with sensor technology to show where the vacant spaces are.
Structures like this in other regional centres contain first-floor retail stores or even residential apartments.
"As well as retail shops, they could be venues for undercover weekend markets. There could be a system to allocate parking on one of the levels to people who work in the CBD.
"There are many options and we don't yet have the information we'll need to make a final decision. But the big question remains: What's the best location?"