From Carrington to Kohlhoff: Ten years of multi-level car park ideas, discussion and debate in Bathurst

Carrington Park, the car park behind the Bathurst RSL Club and, most recently, the Neighbourhood Centre car park have all been suggested as potential locations for a multi-level construction at one time or another.

Down the road at Orange, meanwhile, expressions of interest are still being taken by Orange City Council for a redevelopment of that city's current open car park on Lords Place that would take it up to four levels high.

AS far back as 2013, Bathurst Regional Council was considering its options for a multi-storey car park.

Then-environmental, planning and building services director David Shaw revealed planning was underway as councillors voted in February that year to put the Draft CBD Parking Strategy on public display.

Mr Shaw responded to a question from councillor Warren Aubin, who pointed out the strategy report cited the need for an additional 641 car spaces in the CBD by 2025 to maintain current levels of service.

"Are we looking now at areas where we could possibly build multi-level car parks?" Cr Aubin asked from the floor.

"Yes," was Mr Shaw's short but sweet reply.

The draft strategy found that, on average, there were more than 1700 empty car spaces in the CBD on any given day.

IN 2014, then-deputy mayor Ian North was talking about a three-level car park at Carrington Park on the edge of the CBD.

"It's a major tract of land, right in the middle of town and just across the road from Stockland Shopping Centre," he said at the time.

"The footy players use it to warm up before they play, but apart from that it's perfectly located for a multi-storey car park.

"The topography of the area would allow for three levels and the height could match that of the Stockland car park.

"There could also be some type of raised walkway over Bentinck Street to connect the two car parks - something along the lines of what they have in Penrith."

He said he had asked council's senior officers "to come back to me within a month with a report on the viability of this".

In regards to other potential multi-storey car park locations, he said the car park behind the RSL was an option, but he believed the site could also have the potential for a shopping precinct or even inner city apartments.

FAST forward to 2019 and Cr North said a company had contacted him after taking an interest in parking in Bathurst's CBD.

He said he had spoken to many community members about parking, and the response generally was that there simply weren't enough all-day options available around the CBD.

He said women had also reported feeling nervous about walking to their cars at the end of the day.

"They're finding that they are having to park further and further away from town, especially in winter when it's cold and gets dark earlier," he said.

Cr North said the company looking to help Bathurst improve parking was interested in coming to the city to meet with council staff.

"It's only early stages, but the fact they have contacted me gives me hope," he said.

When asked how a new car park would operate, Cr North said it would likely have a mix of free and paid parking, with the potential for leasing arrangements.

IN the same year, 35 new spaces became available in the CBD when a temporary parking area was opened on the former Clancy Motors site on Howick Street.

It came as work continued on an upgrade of the nearby George and Howick streets intersection.

It was reported later that year, after the intersection construction had finished, that "the future use of the Clancy's site is a matter for the owner to determine".

The location continues to be used as a parking area to this day, though.

A MULTI-STOREY car park somewhere in the CBD went from hazy idea to something more fully formed when, in late 2020, Bathurst RSL Club confirmed it was in negotiations with a development consortium for the potential construction of a 9000 square metre medical facility on the former Clancy Motors site.

As well, there was a proposal to build a multi-level car park on the council-owned flat car park behind the Bathurst RSL Club.

"The developers have shown a genuine interest in working co-operatively with council and the community to give the DA the best possible chance of success once it is submitted, and we remain hopeful that we will see the concept come to fruition," Bathurst RSL general manager Peter Sargent said at the time.

Two years on (in late 2022) and Bathurst Regional Council resolved to adopt an amendment to the Local Environment Plan (LEP) that would permit the proposed integrated medical centre facility to be built at a height of 29 metres and for the associated car park to be built at a height of 21 metres.

That decision does not approve the development to proceed, however. That decision will be made at a state level.

The Bathurst RSL Club and the medical centre developers have committed to jointly contribute $8.4 million to the construction of the car park, but that will only partly cover its cost.

IN the final days of the federal election campaign of mid-2022, Member for Calare Andrew Gee said the Coalition would provide $15 million to the car park if it was returned to office.

"At the moment, this car park holds just over 300 cars and it is basically at capacity every day, so if we are going to make this medical centre happen, we need more parking here in the CBD," he said.

"This $15 million commitment by the Australian government is going to help build that five-storey, multi-level car park, which will be free to the public and it will provide over 900 car parking spaces."

He said it would help "revitalise and turbocharge investment and activity in the CBD".

The federal Coalition, however, was not returned to office.

CONFIDENTIAL papers from Bathurst Regional Council from July 2022, which were only seen by the Western Advocate this month, revealed another location being proposed for a multi-storey car park: behind the Neighbourhood Centre.

The council papers showed that council had resolved to provide "in principle agreement to enter negotiations" with what was then the prospective new owner of Tremain's Mill over a multi-storey car park on the council-owned Neighbourhood Centre car park site.

The confidential papers said the multi-storey car park would serve part of the parking demand for a redevelopment of the Tremain's Mill site in lower Keppel Street and negotiations would be entered into based on the car park remaining a council asset and the cost of works to meet the developer's requirements for parking to be fully funded by the developer.

WITH only a few days until the NSW election, Member for Bathurst Paul Toole announced in the past week that a re-elected NSW Coalition would provide up to $10 million for the proposed car park associated with the integrated medical centre development.

He said the money would be committed "to help Bathurst Regional Council deliver the parking that's needed to support this new health precinct and ease existing parking pressures in the CBD".

"Better parking will help facilitate greater foot traffic and access for tourists, locals and small businesses in the CBD now and for the future," he said.

The NSW Coalition was not re-elected, however.

In Orange, meanwhile, expressions of interest in the redevelopment of the Lords Place car park close on April 17.