An exciting time, Morse says, as old TAFE EOI campaign begins

In February, she requested that a report be prepared "with plans and timeline for the development of the former TAFE building in William Street".

Cr Morse brought a notice of motion to Bathurst Regional Council in May seeking to make progress on a redevelopment of the prominent CBD site, with one element of the recommendation being to undertake an EOI process.

Council formally launched the EOI campaign on Tuesday, giving interested parties until February to submit an initial proposal.

READ MORE: Council calls for expressions of interest for redevelopment of old TAFE site

"I did move a notice of motion earlier in the year and since then council staff have worked extremely hard to prepare every document for this EOI, which is a really significant project," she said.

"There's a YourSay website and this EOI will go right across Australia and maybe attract interest from overseas. It's a very significant project for Bathurst and very exciting, too.

"It's not just for the TAFE building, it's for the area all around that."

While Cr Morse played a key role in getting an EOI campaign on the agenda for council, she won't be there to see the results.

She has no plans to run for re-election in December, and therefore won't get to vote on any EOIs council receives.

The one thing she hopes, though, is that proponents keep the heritage of the old TAFE site in mind when developing their proposals.

"They have to realise it's heritage buildings and any development, any proposal, must recognise the heritage value of that site," she said.

After the EOI closes in February, council will approve a shortlist and ask the preferred proponents to prepare and submit detailed design proposals in mid 2023.

A final design would be selected later that year, and construction could commence the year after that.

"It's not going to happen next week, it's going to take a long time to bring it all to fruition, but it's very exciting," Cr Morse said.

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