Councillors want to see infrastructure like roads and water maintained and improved as the city grows, with concerns about what could happen if the latest population projections prove right.

The NSW Government has updated its 2041 projections for Bathurst, with the population expected to hit 57,060 by then.

Initially, it had projected a population of 50,050, but the figure was updated after Bathurst council and the Central NSW Joint Organisation (CWNSW JO) strongly objected to the estimate and lobbied for it to be updated.

READ MORE: Why Bathurst needs to get its population projections right

Even though the figure was changed, council will instead use the .id Consulting projections of a population of 58,622 by 2041 when planning for future growth.

Data from the 2021 census put Bathurst's population at 45,077.

Speaking at the July 20 council meeting, councillor Marg Hogan said there will be increased demand on Bathurst's infrastructure as a result of this growth.

Water was a particular concern of hers, and she believes council will have a significant role to play to ensure that this resource is maximised.

"We've got many roles to play in the environmental space and one of them going forward, with this knowledge, will be to encourage and educate new residents and businesses to appreciate how precious our water is in a rural environment, especially if they are coming from east of the Blue Mountains," she said.

READ MORE: A third of city's water to come from stormwater harvesting scheme

Cr Warren Aubin agreed, but had greater concern for roads in the region.

He noted that Bathurst's population projections had been wrong before, with the anticipated population for 2035 surpassed in 2019.

"Are they going to get this one right? I doubt very much, but it does ... [mean] that we now have to be especially aware of, not only our water, but our infrastructure, roads and that sort of thing," Cr Aubin said.

"When we're looking at another 2200 housing blocks out at Kelso that are predicted, another 10,000 vehicle movements on that road (Hereford Street), it just won't cope. We've really got to get down, get dirty and get these roads and every other bit of infrastructure down to allow this growth to happen."

While council is working on plans to widen Hereford Street, it is struggling to keep up with other general roads maintenance.

The 2022-23 budget shows council's infrastructure backlog stands at more than $50 million, with more than $17 million of that just for urban roads.

The upgrade to Hereford Street is estimated to cost approximately $25 million.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: