PLANS for a new animal pound have moved a step closer to reality, with a company selected to do the construction.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bathurst Regional Council awarded the $3.6 million tender to Regional West Constructions, a company based in Robin Hill.
Council's general manager David Sherley said it won't be long before work gets under way.
"We would anticipate the works will commence in the near future," he said.
"Construction is expected to take around 40 weeks."
A new pound was first floated in the 2017-18 budget, with council listing a $2.5 allocation to the project.
It took until December, 2020 for an appropriate development application (DA) to be approved for a site in Hampton Park Road, Kelso.
Council had initially called for tenders for the project in 2018, but rejected them all due to the quotes being higher than anticipated.
Mr Sherley said at the time that council would revise the specifications for the state-of-the-art facility before calling for new tenders.
A new pound is needed as the existing facility no longer meets the standards set by the NSW Government and it would be too difficult to retrofit it.
It is also too small to meet the needs of the community, which has grown significantly since it opened around 20 years ago.
The current facility will become a vacant site.
"It will be closed down because the current site, it doesn't conform with the expected standards for the humane treatment of animals," Mr Sherley said.
He said council has no plans yet for the future use of the existing site on the corner of Vale and Lloyds roads.
The new pound will be known as the Bathurst Animal Rehoming Centre.
The site will include an administration building, a dog shelter building with an impound area catering to up to 43 dogs, an adoption pavilion, a storage shed, two rainwater tanks, freestanding building/business identification signage, and staff parking and visitor parking catering for 18 vehicles.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News