Council set to adopt Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan

The July 20 council meeting sees the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan and Futureproofing our CBD documents up for adoption.

The documents have been been in the works for some time, with council engaging Allen Jack + Cottier Architects (AJ+C) to prepare the master plan.

Futureproofing our CBD is council's response to that master plan, the final version of which was presented in early 2021.

The goal of the master plan was to provide a vision for seven blocks in the CBD that combine to make the Bathurst town centre.

After formulating its response to the master plan, council placed the document on public exhibition as a way to invite community feedback, culminating in the What Bathurst Said report reflecting community opinions.

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Council staff have considered the feedback from the community and had planned that the next step would be to present a report recommending the adoption of certain elements only of the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan.

However, the report they have prepared for the July 20 meeting has gone in a different direction.

"It was anticipated that this report would be presented to council recommending adoption of certain elements only of the draft Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan," it says.

"Given the limitations of this approach and the success of the Streets as Shared Spaces trials, it is instead recommended that council adopt the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan as a reference document only.

"As a reference document, the master plan can be used in its entirety or in parts to simply inform future decision making. It does not commit council to a specific list of works or actions or a specific set of solutions but only commits council to considering the suggestions of the master plan as it makes future decisions relating to the CBD."

Council staff have also recommended that the Futureproofing our CBD document be adopted as a new supporting policy.

The new policy would apply to the whole of the CBD and respond to the suggestions of the Bathurst Town Centre Master Plan and the community's response to it.

It would also set guiding principles for future decisions concerning the CBD, without establishing a specific list of actions or solutions to be implemented.

If councillors accept the recommendations of council staff as written, the draft Futureproofing our CBD policy would be placed on public exhibition to allow for furthering public feedback.

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