This is no surprise, however. Council has been authorising the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of what I believe are inappropriate buildings in the Conservation Area for as long as anyone can remember.

This comes hot on the heels of the Mayor's Message (Bathurst Regional Council News Bite included with the recent rates notices) which talks about how council, through the Heritage Plan 2021-2027, will "protect, enhance and support our heritage - buildings and places ..."

RECENT LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

In my opinion, there is no evidence of council doing this - quite the opposite, in fact.

The question must be asked: why have a Heritage Plan at all if our buildings continue to be destroyed?

The answer appears to be that it is a requirement of the state government and it is also necessary to access government funds.

In other words, a tick-the-box exercise to then be ignored.

Trouble is, you can drive a front-end loader through the Heritage Plan, as successive councils have done.

The Heritage Plan is clearly not fit for purpose as it simply does not provide ways for council to protect our heritage, not that councils over the years have shown any sign of wanting to stop demolitions anyway.

Councils and mayors come and go, council staff change, public meetings have been held, representations to councillors and council staff have been made, committees have met, reports and submissions made and so on and still nothing changes.

I believe our heritage continues to be systematically demolished with the approval of council.

It's no wonder that the large numbers of Bathurstians who care about our heritage are both disgusted and in despair over what is seen as the unwillingness of council to reflect community wishes and take a stand.

The old saying is that there are two certainties in life - death and taxes.

In Bathurst, we can add a third - the systematic destruction of our unique buildings.