DEPUTY mayor Ben Fry wants to see progress on the Mount Panorama second circuit project, which has stalled despite attracting millions of dollars in funding from the state and federal governments.
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It has been almost four years years since Bathurst Regional Council unveiled the proposed layout for the precinct, prepared by Apex Circuit Designs.
The design came after council received $15 million from the NSW Government and $10 million from the Federal Government for the second circuit project.
The Federal Government then committed a further $2.5 million in 2019.
The first of the financial support for the project was offered up more than five years ago.
While the funds are significant, they fall well short of the estimated $52 million it would cost to deliver the project.
Cr Fry, who was elected to council in December, said the new group of councillors has "inherited a bit of a stalled project".
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It's something that he would like to see pick up speed in this current council term.
"We need more movement around acquisition of properties, we need more commitment from external funding sources. As the price tag on any construction anywhere increases, that track doesn't differ," he said.
He said councillors do receive regular updates about where the project is up to and what comes next.
"So it is slowly, slowly moving and it is still moving, but it's not moving as quick as some would like," he said.
One of the barriers to the project is funding, with council not in a position to commit serious funds of its own.
And Cr Fry knows that the community would have concerns if the second circuit was prioritised over other projects.
"Given our infrastructure backlog in Bathurst and a few other critical projects, like Hereford Street, water security and things like that, I can't see it passing the pub test to start funding a race track to the tune of sixty, eighty, one hundred million dollars - whatever it might cost in the end with rising construction costs," he said.
"I can't see it passing the pub test with the public because we've just got this infrastructure to sort out before we put in a second circuit."
Mount Panorama has been in the spotlight recently after Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel said he would rather race in Bathurst than in Las Vegas.
As it currently stands, Mount Panorama does not meet the prerequisite requirements to be licenced for a Formula 1 race.
The design for the second circuit also wouldn't be able to accommodate the category and, while Cr Fry has thought about the possibility altering the design, he said it was unlikely to change.
"Off the back of Sebastian Vettel saying that he'd like to race Mount Panorama in the Formula 1 car, it pricked my ears up. I'm not sure what the cost would be to expand from a grade two to a grade one circuit, but I can imagine it'd be a lot more expensive, so I could be dreaming there," he said.
"But the project itself as it stands, if we still plan to build a track to the standard and the design that we've already got, I can't see it happening in the near future.
"It is definitely a long-term project and requires a commitment from either state or federal funding source well beyond what they've already committed."
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