A fresh set of eyes makes a years-long problem finally disappear

For years, the two driveways off Durham Street have been plagued with enormous potholes, which on more than one occasion have damaged vehicles unable to navigate around them.

While repairs have been carried out in the past, there hasn't been a full resurfacing of both driveways - until now.

The new owners of the Bathurst Chase, Mintus, made those entry ways a priority after acquiring the shopping centre in late 2023, and now the work has been done.

"The driveways leading into both the centre and Hungry Jacks off the Highway were always a point of pain for local residents," a Mintus spokesperson said.

"The Hungry Jacks landlord (a private investor) and Mintus got together soon after the purchase of our centre and agreed on a way forward for both driveways and quickly put a plan in place to complete the works with a fantastic local concreter, Jim Nagy Concreting and Excavation.

"For Mintus, this is the first small step in providing Bathurst with a refurbished Coles-anchored centre."

The work has been welcomed by mayor Jess Jennings, who has expressed his thanks.

Cr Jennings regularly fielded calls from residents who were frustrated with the potholes, and he would often highlight those concerns publicly in an effort to pressure those responsible to fix the issue.

He's glad to see that the old surface has finally been replaced.

"I've been the councillor who complained about this pretty much on an annual basis for the last five to 10 years, and so now they've fixed it up, it's excellent news," Cr Jennings said.

"This fix is not before time, but is very welcome. Credit where it's due to the new owners, and the fact they are collaborating with adjoining businesses to get a solid result is making Bathurst better, and I applaud that."

He said the old surface "made it quite dangerous" for vehicles coming in off Durham Street, and would cause traffic to bank up as drivers navigated the potholes.

Now, they can enter Hungry Jacks and the Bathurst Chase car park with ease, and Cr Jennings is confident the new surface will hold up for many years to come.

"It looks to be solid concrete, so that's not going to fall apart anytime soon," he said.

"They've done a job that's now fit for purpose, because resealing it and patching it was never enough for the volume of traffic and getting good flow."