Bathurst, New South Wales

Bathurst

Holy Trinity Church

Is a regional city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately 200 km west of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in Australia and had an urban population of 28,992 people on the 2006 census night. Bathurst City is the 29th largest population area of the 135 regional NSW population areas in 2009. Residents of Bathurst are known as “Bathurstians”. Bathurst is often referred to as Gold Country as it was the site of the first gold discovery and where the first gold rush occurred in Australia. Today it is education and manufacturing that drive the economy as well as motorsport at the internationally famous Mount Panorama motor racing circuit. The city has an historic city centre with many buildings remaining from the gold rush period of the mid to late 1800s. The median age of the population is a relatively young 32.9 years this is related to the large education sector in the community and is particularly young for a regional centre, the state average is 36.4. Population growth has reached 2.2% per annum and that places Bathurst in number one position in growth across all NSW regional centres. This growth over recent years has seen the construction of new shopping centres and retail precincts, sporting facilities, housing estates, and expanding industrial areas.

Geography

Rotunda at Machattie Park,Bathurst NSW

Bathurst is situated on the western edge of the Great Dividing Range in the Macquarie River plain the area also known as the Bathurst plains. The city straddles the Macquarie River a river that feeds into the Murray Darling River system, the largest river system in Australia. The city is protected by a levee bank to protect the city from occasional flood events. Mount Panorama is located 3 km from the CBD and effectively within the city limits; it is 877m AMSL and rises 215m above the Bathurst CBD. Bathurst is located on the Great Western Highway that starts in the centre of the city of Sydney and finishes at Bathurst. At this point two main state highways start, the Mitchell Highway to Bourke and the Mid-Western Highway to Hay. Bathurst is located approximately mid-way along a regional road route from Canberra and Goulburn to Mudgee and the Hunter Valley. Bathurst is also located on the Main Western Railway line that starts at Sydney Central Station and proceeds for 242 rail kilometres to Bathurst. The Macquarie River divides Bathurst with the CBD located on the western side of the river. Four road bridges and two rail bridges span the river within the city area, from the upstream side they are: Rail Bridge (built in 1876) closed in 2011, replaced with a new concrete single track rail bridge structure alongside and brought into use in 2011, the four lane Evans Bridge opened in 1995, the Denison Bridge opened in 1870, closed to road traffic and now a pedestrian bridge, the George Street low level bridge, and the Eglington Bridge.

Landform

Kings Parade, Carillon Memorial & Evans Memorial

Two physical components comprise the Bathurst region, the Bathurst Basin and the Tablelands areas, they are drained by the Macquarie, Turon, Fish and Campbells Rivers to the north and Abercrombie and Isabella Rivers to the south. The central basin area of the Bathurst area is mainly granite soils while in the north area sandstone, conglomerates, greywacke, siltstones, limestones and minor volcanos predominate. The south is more complex geology with siltstones, sandstones, greywacke, shales and chert, basalt and granite intrusions and embeded volcanic and limestones. Underlying Bathurst is the dominant feature of Bathurst granite (intruded in the Devonian period) and at Mount Panorama and Mount Stewart basalt occurs. Topography of the region ranges from slightly undulating to rough and very steep country, approximately 30 km to the east of Bathurst is the folded and faulted sedimentary and metamorphosed formations of the Great Dividing Range which runs roughly north-south.

Weather

Bathurst is located in Australia’s cool temperate climate zone which is defined as having mild to warm summers and cool to cold winters. Regular summer thunderstorms particularly in December and January are common as a result of the flat plains country to the west leading into the mountainous nature of the country around Bathurst assisting the development of storm cells. On the other hand in winter light snow falls occur on higher peaks around Bathurst typically a few days each season.

CBD and suburbs

Home of Ben Chifley, now a museum, in Busby Street Bathurst

Bathurst CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is an area of approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks as distinct from the linear one main street common in other, particularly regional, locations. Within this block layout is located banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments. Bathurst has retained a mix of main street shopping along with enclosed shopping centres within the CBD unlike other towns where the CBD focus has split between main street and new shopping centre developments located in the suburbs. Within the CBD is Kings Parade, this is a park setting with several memorials of people and events in history it is a popular location for locals to meet. City planners manage a conservation zone that includes within its boundaries the Bathurst CBD the zone seeks to conserve the city historal buildings and character. Keppel Street is Bathurst’s second commercial shopping area, removed from the CBD by two blocks to the south, this area developed once the railway arrived in 1876. The main suburbs of Bathurst are; Kelso, Eglinton, West Bathurst, Bathurst, Llanarth, South Bathurst, Rose Hill, Windradyne, Windradyne Heights and Abercrombie Estate. One of the newer suburbs is Marsden Estate, in Kelso.

Landmarks

Bathurst’s place in Australia’s history is clearly evidenced by the large number of landmark monuments, buildings, and parks. Many landmark buildings are included in the ‘Architecture’ section of this article. In the centre of the city is a square known as Kings Parade. Originally a markets area from 1849 to 1906 when it was redesignated as a public recreation ground and site for a soldiers memorial. Kings Parade now contains three memorials an open space park and gardens. The Bathurst War Memorial Carillon is a 30.5m tall tower structure located in the centre of Kings Parade, the Parade is itself in the centre of Bathurst’s CBD. The Carillon is a memorial to the soldiers who lost their lives in the two world wars. The bell tower contains 35 cast bronze bells that are rung daily at lunchtime, and an eternal flame on the platform level of the structure. The Carillon was officially completed on Armistice Day, 11 November 1933 at a cost of £8,880. The Evans memorial stands at the northern end of Kings Parade, completed in 1920 the memorial commemorates the discovery of the Bathurst Plains in 1813 by George Evans, Assistant Surveyor of Lands. The Boer War memorial stands at the southern end of Kings Parade, the memorial was unveiled in 1910 by Lord Kitchener.

History

Overlooking Bathurst

The Bathurst area was originally occupied by the Wiradjuri Aboriginal people.

Colonial period (1800s) to gold rush era (1860s)

The government surveyor, George William Evans, was the first European to sight the Bathurst Plains in 1813. In 1814, Governor Lachlan Macquarie approved an offer by William Cox to build a road crossing the Blue Mountains, from Emu Plains, the existing road terminus west of Sydney to the Bathurst Plains. This first road to cross the Blue Mountains was 12 feet (3.7 m) wide by 101½ miles (163 km) long, built between 18 July 1814 to 14 January 1815 using 30 convict labourers and 8 guards. Governor Macquarie surveyed the finished road in April 1815 by driving his carriage across it from Sydney to Bathurst. The Governor commended Cox and stated that the project would have taken three years if it had been done under a contract. As a reward Cox was awarded 2,000 acres (810 ha) of land near what is now Bathurst. Bathurst was founded at the terminus of Cox’s Road on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie who selected the site on 7 May 1815, and is the oldest inland town in Australia. The name Bathurst comes from the surname of the British Colonial Secretary Lord Bathurst. It was intended to be the administrative centre of the western plains of New South Wales where orderly colonial settlement was planned. Local Wiradjuri groups under leaders such as Windradyne resisted the settlers until the Frontier Wars of the early 1820s ended the open conflict. The initial settlement of Bathurst was on the eastern side of the river in 1816. It is in today’s suburb of Kelso. Each of 10 men were granted 50 acres (20 ha), five were men new born in the colony and five were immigrants. These men were William Lee, Richard Mills, Thomas Kite, Thomas Swanbrooke, George Cheshire, John Abbott, John Blackman, James Blackman, John Neville and John Godden. In 1818 Governor Lachlan Macquarie stated in his diary: This morning I inspected 10 new settlers for Bathurst. I have agreed to grant each 50 acres of land, a servant, a cow, four bushels (141 litres) of wheat, an allotment in the new town, and to provide for them for 12 months from the King’s stores. In the early years of settlement Bathurst was a base for many of the early explorers of the NSW inland, including John Oxley, Allan Cunningham and Thomas Mitchell.

St Stephen's Church, 1872

Flecks of gold were first discovered in the Fish River in February 1823, but it was 12 February 1851 in a Bathurst Hotel when Edward Hargraves announced the discovery of payable gold, soon gold was found at Ophir, later Sofala and Hill End in the 1850s and 1860s and the town of Bathurst began to boom. Bathurst was to become the first gold centre of Australia, the nearby gold localities would transport their gold to Bathurst then on to Sydney the mail and gold transport coaches became an obvious target for Bushrangers and this increasingly became a problem for the authorities. The Ribbon Gang and the Bathurst Rebellion occurred in 1830 when a large group of over 80 convicts roamed the Bathurst district. They were eventually captured and charged with murder, bushranging and horse-thieving. On 2 November 1830 ten members of the Ribbon Boys were hanged in Bathurst for their crimes. The site of the first and largest public hanging in Bathurst is still marked by the laneway sign Ribbon Gang Lane in the CBD. Ben Hall who became a notorious bushranger was married in St Michael’s Church at Bathurst in 1856. In October 1863 a gang of five including Hall raided Bathurst robbing a jewellers shop, bailed up the Sportmans Arms Hotel and tried to steal a racehorse. They returned three days later and held up more businesses. John Piesley, another bushranger, was tried and hung for murder at Bathurst Gaol in 1862. Bathurst’s economy was transformed by the discovery of gold in 1851. One illustration of the prosperity gold brought to Bathurst is the growth of the number, and status of, Hotels and inns. The first licensed inn within the township was opened in 1835, the Highland Laddie. At the peak of hotel activity in 1875, coinciding with the gold rush period, there were 61 operating concurrently. A total of 89 hotel locations have been identified in the town of Bathurst with 112 operating in the immediate district over the history of Bathurst. Initially many pubs were simply a cottage with stables then as prosperity increased during the gold rush the Hotels became typical of architecture of pubs known today.

Development of the City (1860′s) to Federation (1910)

The Bathurst 1000

The Cobb & Co. business was a horse drawn coaching transport business originally established in Victoria but relocated to Bathurst in 1862 to follow the gold rush. The business provided gold escorts, mail services and passenger services to the towns and rural settlements. Cobb & Co. coaches were constructed in the coaching workshops located in Bathurst and the Bathurst Information Centre contains a restored Cobb & Co. coach. Bathurst later became the centre of an important coal-mining and manufacturing region. The Main Western railway line from Sydney reached Bathurst in 1876 and from that time the town became an important railway centre with workshops, train crew base with locomotive depot, and track and signal engineering offices. It remains today as the railway regional engineering headquarters with a large rail component manufacturing facility. In 1885 Bathurst had a population of approximately 8,000 and a district population of an additional 20,000 people. The town in 1885 was a hub for stores such as E.G. Webb & Co. with supplies and distribution occurring throughout large parts of western NSW and into Queensland and South Australia.

Federation (1910) and post war development(1940′s)

This period is characterised by periods of slow to moderate population growth with industrial and education industries developing and technology and services delivered to the town. Several major infrastructure developments arrive such as distributed town gas, electricity, town water supplies, and a sewage treatment system. Town gas had arrived in Bathurst courtesy of a private venture in 1872 with the Council providing a competing network from 1888, on 30 June 1914 the Council purchased the Wark Bros gas system and combined the gas networks. The old gasworks plant on Russell Street, now out of use, was built in 1960. In 1987 natural gas arrived via a new 240 km spur pipeline off the Moomba to Sydney pipeline. The early part of the century saw electricity arrive initially for street lighting; the first electric street light was lit 20 December 1924. Lighting spread along streets through to 1935, over time to businesses and finally private houses. Sewage treatment was an early infrastructure project funded by the state government and built in 1915. Water supply started with private wells in backyards eventually in 1926 a waterworks was built to the south of the town on the river with the water pumped through piping laid progressively to the businesses and private dwellings. In 1931 work started on the 1,700 ML Winburndale Dam project to gravity feed water through a wood stave pipe laid to the town, the scheme opened by the Premier of New South Wales on 7 October 1933. Later a new larger water supply dam was built on the Campbells River and originally known as the Campbell River Dam scheme later renamed the Ben Chifley Dam after the late Prime Minister Ben Chifley of Bathurst, it was opened in November 1956. The Ben Chifley Dam received a major storage upgrade designed to meet the cities needs to 2050, the work was completed in 2001 increasing the capacity by 30% to 30,800 ML.

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Bathurst, 1861

An ambulance service commenced on 6 June 1925 with a new Hudson ambulance, a new ambulance station was opened 2 March 1929 and is still used by the NSW Ambulance Service. Motor cars were becoming common in the early 20th century and the need for road service patrols commenced in 1927 provided by the NRMA using a motorcycle/sidecar response vehicle. The early electronic media age arrived with the opening of commercial radio station 2BS on 1 January 1937. Bathurst Aerodrome was opened in 1942 initially to benefit the war effort providing parking for aircraft overflowing from Richmond air force base. The first commercial airline service departed for Sydney on 16 December 1946. A famous Australian brand name of frozen foods began in Bathurst. Robert Gordon Edgell arrived in Bathurst in 1902, in 1906 he was growing pears, apples and asparagus, he experimented with canning and preserving fruit and vegetables opening a small cannery in 1926, expanding in 1932, in 1930 he formed the company Gordon Edgell & Sons which over time became, and still is, a famous Australian food name. Many attempts were made to start a University College with the earliest attempts in 1912 through to 1947 when real progress was made with plans for a state teachers college. The first intake of teacher students came at the beginning of 1951 with the official opening on 9 November 1951. The college has transformed over time into the Mitchell College of Advanced Education on 1 January 1970. Again the College grew and ultimately became the Charles Sturt University on 19 July 1989. Bathurst was one of the locations to campaign to be the site of the new Federal Capital. In an essay prepared by a journalist with the Bathurst Times newspaper, Price Warung, in 1901 to promote Bathurst’s candidacy he responds to the Federal committees key requirements for the capital to have; centrality and accessibility of situation, salubrity, and capacity for impregnable defence. An Army Camp was established at Bathurst in early 1940 and was intended for the 1st Armoured Division of the AIF, soon converting to an infantry training centre due to the unsuitability of the closely settled area to armoury training. Following the war this camp was converted to a migrants ‘reception and training centre’, the first group arrived at Bathurst in 1948, at times the centre had up to 10,000 residents.

Population growth

The Commercial Hotel

Bathurst’s population over its 190+ year history has had rapid growth periods; during the mid to late 19th century gold rush period, then post World War 2 when migrants from the war ravaged countries were settled in the area and returning soldiers were offered farming land, and at the start of this century has been another fast growth period corresponding in part to Sydneys congestion. Other periods have seen a slightly declining population including the decade around 1900′s and during the 1960s. The following chart illustrates the growth from 1856 to recent times.

Architecture

Bathurst has a unique collection of architecture from colonial through to recent times, with many examples remaining intact the townscape is a feature of present day Bathurst. Historical buildings range from workers cottages, terrace houses, mansions, slab huts, industrial, commercial buildings and grand civic structures.

Periods, styles and features

Colonial (1815–1840) this early period is mostly of Bathurst red brick, sometimes limewashed, with 12 paned windows and four or six panelled doors. Examples of this style include Old Government House (c.1820), and Holy Trinity Church (Gothic style) Early Victorian (1840–1860) in this period the structures are mostly small domestic buildings. Characteristics of this style has the building line right up close to the street or the front verandah directly on the street. An example of this style include ‘Loxsley’ a gentlemans townhouse of the period, and the Royal Hotel originally a single storey building. Mid Victorian (1860–1880) this period coincides with greater affluence and more building materials becoming available such as greater use of, and larger areas of glass. Windows typically now become 4 or 6 panes. Row housing is still a common layout, sometimes in a Gothic influenced style with steeply pitched roofs. An examples of this style is the Webb Building built in 1862. During this period a designer named Edmund Gell designed many of the main buildings including the ornate St. Stanislaus School. In this period (1875) the railway station was built and is of the Victorian Tudor style with dutch gables topped by finials, bay windows and cast-iron verandah, also of the same period is a great baronial mansion called Abercrombie House, a large, three-storey, 40-room mansion in the Scottish baronial style. Bathurst Hospital is a large Victorian era hospital complex in the second empire style, constructed of Bathurst red bricks, verandahs are decorated with timber posts, arched brackets and cast iron balustrades.

Court House and old Post Office

Many Bathurst mansions were built of the Italianate style in this period with features such as bay windows, cast iron columns, lacework and verandahs. Bathurst’s Courthouse (c.1860) designed by colonial architect James Barnet stands in a prominent city position and is neo-classical style with octagonal rennaisance dome, a doric portico with pediment, octagonal tower with turret, stone facings and brick pilasters, a colonnade of doric pillars, a sage-green roof, red bricks, yellow bricks and long lines of sash windows. Barnet also designed the Bathurst Police barracks (c.1875) and the Bathurst Gaol (c.1886) with the ornate lions head holding a key (a Victorian symbol of secure and certain retribution) standing over the gateway entrance. St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church is a Gothic structure built of Bathurst red bricks in 1871-72. Late Victorian (1880–1900) The Bathurst Showground Buildings (c.1880s) represent one of the most intact groups of nineteenth century timber showground pavilions in New South Wales. The style is known as Carpenter Gothic. The old technical college is a two-storey American Romanesque building erected c.1896 of red brick with terracotta facings and other detailing. The interior is also of a high quality. Italianate architecture appears in several Bathurst buildings including the former Masonic Hall (Carrington House) with stuccoed and decorated surfaces and the Westpac Bank Building. Federation (1900–1915) This period was a time of experimentation in design and construction. The Experimental Farm (now part of Charles Sturt University) is an example of the Federation style. Many of the Federation style buildings have decorative timber fret work and terracotta or iron roofs. Inter War (1915–1940) this period was one of great architectural change, examples include the Knickerbocker Hotel in the functionalist style and the old Commonwealth Bank built in the Free Classical style. With the coming of electricity in 1924 unique cast iron light posts and lanterns were installed in the centre of the wide city streets and these are still an architectural feature of the city streetscape.

Governance

Local

Bathurst Railway Yard

Local government was trialled in the new Colony with a ‘Bathurst and Carcoar District Council’ established on 12 August 1843, Bathurst was proclaimed a town in 1852 and incorporated as a borough in 1862, next a municipality in 1883, then gazetted a city in on 20 March 1885. the same day as Sydney was declared a city. Bathurst Regional Council was formed on 26 May 2004 following the amalgamation of the Bathurst City Council, most of Evans Shire and a small amount of land formerly included in Oberon Shire. To capitalise on Bathurst’s growth, education facilities and youthful population the Regional Council is progressing plans for a new Australian Centre for Science, Technology and Emerging Industries (ACSTEI), also known as the Technology Park, to be established adjacent to the Charles Sturt University Campus with the centre featuring next generation emerging industries.

State

Bathurst is the state seat in the NSW Parliament, this seat covers the major centres of Bathurst and Lithgow, and all or part of Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne, Lithgow, Mid-Western and Oberon local government areas. Since 1859 Bathurst has existed as an electoral district in the NSW Parliament. Before this, between 1856 to 1859, Bathurst was a part of the Electoral district of Western Boroughs. Prior to the 1920s Bathurst was a single member constituency, in the 1920s it became a multimember district with proportional representation. During the middle part of the 20th century the seat was marginal between Labor and Country Parties, from 1981 when the strong Labor town of Lithgow moved from Blue Mountains to Bathurst, the seat was dominated by Labor, except for 1988 when it was won by the Liberal Party for one 3 year term, and the 2011 election when Paul Toole of the National Party won the seat.

Federal

Bathurst Courthouse

Bathurst is currently within the federal electoral district of Calare which includes a large part of western NSW from Lithgow in the east to Tullamore in the west. Prior to the 2010 election Bathurst was within the Macquarie federal electoral district which was more easterly based including the Blue Mountains area with Bathurst as the western boundary of the district.

Crime statistics

Crime in the Bathurst local government area over the 5 years period, 2005 to 2009, is generally stable and in some areas the trend is falling (break and enters, and stealing categories), there is no category of crime where the crime trend is increasing. Crime is categorised by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics into 17 categories for statistcial purposes.

Economy

Industry

Bathurst’s economy is broad based with a strong manufacturing industry, large education sector, including agricultural, and government service sectors. Private sector employers with large workforces in Bathurst, according to statistics published in 2009, include Devro an international company that produces food casing products has a workforce of 221 and Mars Petcare manufacturing plant with 220 employees are the single largest private employers of labour. Then companies such as Telstra’s call centre with 144 employees, Simplot Australia‘s (more recognisable as brands such as Edgells, BirdsEye, Chiko Roll, and I&J Seafood products) food processing and canning plant with 122 employees, Downer EDi’s locomotive workshops with 81 employees, and Burkes Transport a local trucking and distribution company with 68 employees.

A typical bus stop in the Bathurst region.

Government sector employers with large local workforces include Country Energy with their District Field Office and Corporate Office with 468 employees, Charles Sturt University with its 438 employees, Bathurst Regional Council with 317 employees, the Land and Property Management Authority that provide mapping and survey data across NSW with 278 employees, the Greater Western Area Health Service – Regional Office employing 310 people, Bathurst Correctional Centre employing 210 people, Department of Education and Training – Regional Office with 101 staff, Police Service – Chifley Local Area Command with 151 employees, and NSW State Forests – Regional Office with 79 employees, and RailCorp’s rail manufacturing workshops.

Agriculture

The Bathurst regions climate of cool winter weather lends itself to stone fruit production and cool variety grapes for wine production. The flat flood plains along the river suit the summer production of corn to supply the Simplot processing plant located in Bathurst. Bathurst is the location for the Bathurst Primary Industries Centre a government facility that has been operating since 1895 originally known as The Experimental Farm. Originally established to study most facets of agriculture in the early growth years of the western inland, work included dairy, pigs, vegetable, cereal plantings, and fruit trees, the first fruit trees planted in 1896. The site is still one of the most important stone fruit research units in Australia. Sheep and wool production are the main primary industries in the surrounding area with beef cattle a secondary production. Wool has been a significant part of the Bathurst rural scene since the 1850s when the industry was growing rapidly. The Bathurst area produces fine grade wool due to the ideal cool winters suiting fine wool production. Fat lambs for meat production are a common product of the regions farms. Beef cattle breeds are predominantly British, British cross and European cross, the Bos indicus types are present but not common.

Forestry

Bathurst railway station.

Bathurst is the site of a major timber processing facility using timber harvested from the surrounding forests, including Sunny Corner State Forest, there are large plantations of softwood timber (pinus radiata) that are harvested for timber products, the main product being sawlogs, and some pulp. Bathurst is the headquarters for the Macquarie Region of Forests NSW (a NSW Government Authority).

Motorsport

oday, Bathurst is synonymous with motorsport, being the site of the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit. It hosts the Bathurst 12 Hour motor race each February, the Bathurst Motor Festival every Easter, and the Bathurst 1000 motor race each October, during which the population swells with visitors. The circuit is a public road when not closed for racing events and is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to the city. Bathurst has a long history of racing beginning with motorcycle racing from 1911. From 1931 to 1938, motorcycle racing was conducted at the Old Vale Circuit before moving to the newly created Mount Panorama Circuit in 1938. On 16 April 1938, Mount Panorama attracted 20,000 spectators to its first race, The Australian Tourist Trophy and in 2006 the crowd figure reached 194,000 for the 3 day Bathurst 1000 event. A group known as ‘Mount Panorama Second Circuit Action Group’ is promoting and lobbying to incorporate additional track and facilities into the existing circuit to capture additional events and increase the use of the facility. Beside the circuit is the National Motor Racing Museum, this museum was built to encourage visitors to the circuit all year round other than just on race weekends and includes motor cycles and cars representing the racing history of Bathurst. Peter Brock, the race car driver, was synonymous with Mount Panorama racing and a memorial sculpture dedicated to him, is located in the museum grounds.

Sport

Evans Bridge, crossing the Macquarie River, connecting Kelso and Bathurst

Sports in general are well supported by the Bathurst community, the Bathurst Regional Council and NSW State Government have contributed significant funds over the past decade to build new facilities, such as a new heated Aquatic Centre, an Indoor Sports Stadium, Hockey Complex, and major upgrade of the track, new pit complex and spectator facilities at the Mount Panorama circuit. The Hockey Complex is an advanced facility which includes water and sand based fields as well as numerous grass fields. Bathurst has had a long association with competitive Hockey at the National level. The city provides ‘dedicated’ sports facilities for motor racing, Rugby League (part of Group 10), Rugby Union, AFL, Athletics, Cricket, Netball, Tennis, Football and Touch Football. There are over 70 different sporting groups and organisations in the region from Academy’s of Dance, croquet, aero, pony clubs, through to the football, rugby, cricket and cycling. Cycling is increasingly considered a specialty sport of the Bathurst Region with ideal road and community facilities around the city. The Bathurst Cycling Club is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia founded in 1884. Sports grounds around Bathurst:

• Alan Morse Park – Cricket and Athletics
• Anne Ashwood Park – Rugby Union (Bathurst Bulldogs Rugby Union Club)
• Bathurst Sportsground – Turf Cricket pitch, Rugby League / Union field, Velodrome, and turf ‘Track and Field’ facilities – home of Bathurst Panthers Rugby League Club & others
• Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium – basketball, volleyball, netball, soccer and badminton courts
• Brooke Moore Oval – 3 synthetic Cricket nets, and 1 turf Cricket pitch
• Carrington Park – Rugby League, and Rugby Union
• Cooke Hockey Complex – 9 grass hockey fields, 3 synthetic hockey fields
• Cubis Park Facilities – 2 synthetic cricket pitches, and 2 full size League/ Soccer fields
• Eglinton Oval
• George Park – AFL, and Cricket
• John Matthews Complex – 14 all weather Netball courts, and Tennis
• Learmonth Park – 4 synthetic cricket pitches, and 9 Touch Football fields (turf)
• Proctor Park – 12 turf Soccer fields
• Police Paddock – 2 synthetic Cricket pitches, and 2 full sized turf Soccer fields
• Ralph Cameron Oval Raglan – 2 Tennis courts, 3 Cricket nets, 2 synthetic Cricket wickets
• Walmer Park

St Stanislaus Private School

Gliding is a popular activity and there is a large gliding community in Bathurst, the participant numbers are boosted by Bathurst being the closest gliding centre to Sydney. Gliding takes place at Pipers Airfield which is approximately 5 kilometres to the north of the city. Gliding also occurs most school holidays at the Bathurst Regional Airport where Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC) from No.327 Flight learn to fly. Bathurst with its young population demographic has established modern sporting competitions such as the Newtons Nation event, at this event, held at Mount Panorama, young people in particular can participate in modern sports such as BMX Dirt Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Wakeboarding, Parkour, Flatland BMX, Krumping, Skateboarding, and Luge.

Culture

Bathurst is a cathedral city, being the seat for the Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst. The city is dotted with many churches and other religious buildings such as schools and halls. The main cathedrals are All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral, and St Michael and St John’s Cathedral (Catholic), then there are many churches and places of worship including St Stephens Presbyterian Church & Hall, Assumption Church (Catholic), St Barnabas’ South Bathurst (Anglican) and others. Bathurst was also the home of wartime Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley, who represented the area in the Federal Parliament and is buried in Bathurst. His legacy is celebrated by the Labour Party each year with a function known as the Light on the Hill speech by a senior Labour figure. The Light on the Hill speech was first delivered to the ALP Conference by Chifley in 1949.

Area of first settlement

Bathurst is unusual in that it has a collection of house museums representing different periods of its history from first settlement to the 1970s. The house museums include Old Government Cottage built 1837 – 1860, Abercrombie House a 40 room historic mansion built c.1870s, Miss Traill’s House built in 1845, and Chifley Home which retains the simple furnishings that demonstrated the lifestyle and image of Chifley as a ‘plain man’. Bathurst is home to several museums including the Bathurst Historical Society Museum located in the left wing of the historic courthouse. This museum includes in its collection a range of Aboriginal artefacts and large collections of documents relating to Bathurst’s early history and collection of local items from Australia’s early settlement. Central Bathurst is host to the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, which houses the Somerville Collection of fossils and minerals, and features Australia’s only complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. The Somerville Collection also consists of one of the largest collections of tourmaline in the Southern Hemisphere. The Fossil and Mineral Museum is located in the historic school building in the CBD. Organisations that support the various arts are well catered for in Bathurst they include the Mitchell Conservatorium which was the NSW’s first regional, community-based, pre-tertiary and non-profit music centre, it was established in May 1978. The Conservatorium provides musical education and performance opportunities to children and adults. The Bathurst Regional Art Gallery focuses on Australian art from 1955 and has a strong representation of local landscapes and particularly local villages and towns. The collection includes several Lloyd Rees paintings. The design of the gallery allows regular exhibitions with an average of 25 exhibitions per year. The gallery is owned by the Bathurst Regional Council and is located in a modern purpose built building incorporating the Regional Library. Another Arts group is the Macquarie Philharmonia, this professional and amateur orchestra annually brings together professional musicians living in western areas of NSW. Known as Australia’s Inland Symphony Orchestra, throughout the year the Macquarie Philharmonia invites selected music students from the region’s Conservatoriums to perform alongside professionals to audiences throughout the Region. Carillon Theatrical Society is an amateur theatrical society that has been performing musicals for the people of Bathurst since 1959. Recent shows include The Producers and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The NSW Government and Charles Sturt University supports the Arts in the area through Arts OutWest which is the peak arts and cultural body for the Central West area of NSW, operating since 1974. This group promotes and educates arts and cultural development for Bathurst and the region.

Bathurst Courthouse on Russell Street, built in 1880

The Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre (BMEC) is a new purpose built building completed in 1999 that provides a venue for local and visiting performances. BMEC has an annual season of entertainment encompassing all forms of the performing arts from Australia and around the world. Entertainment and learning is promoted by the historic Royal Bathurst Show, this Agricultural Show has been operating since 1860 and is one of the largest regional shows in NSW. The show has been operating continuously from the present site since 1878 and attendances now typically reach 20,000 people over a two day period. In 1994 approval was received from the Queen to name the show the Royal Bathurst Show. The Central Tablelands region is a location with a growing reputation as a producer of gourmet food and drink. A non profit volunteer based organisation known as Bre&d was established in 2001 to encourage visitors and residents to experience the regions produce. The organisation operates the monthly Bathurst Farmers Markets held at the Bathurst Showground as well as the Bre&d Under the Stars and Bre&d On the Bridge annual events that showcase the regions chefs and local produce. The events are held on the historic Denison Bridge with the Macquarie River passing below.

Education

Education is Bathurst’s largest industry with 60 education facilities that represent 7.6% of Bathurst’s Gross Regional Product. The education range covers all levels including university, TAFE, secondary, primary both public and private. In Bathurst 12.1% of the population are employed in the education sector; the NSW state average is 7.0%. Bathurst is the headquarters for Charles Sturt University which has a major campus in Bathurst, complementing campuses in Wagga Wagga, Albury, Dubbo, Orange, Canberra, and Goulburn. It is a major provider of regional tertiary education as well as distance education both nationally and internationally. The Bathurst campus offers courses in business, communication, computer science, nursing, paramedics, policing, psychology, advertising, early childhood, journalism, psychology, and teaching. The university is renowned for its reputation in journalism. The Western Institute of TAFE has two campuses in Bathurst. The College has 12 Industry Training Divisions including arts and media, building and construction, business services, computing and information services, engineering services, rural and mining services and tourism and hospitality. Bathurst has numerous primary schools and high schools, both public and private. These include the All Saints College, Denison College, MacKillop College, St. Stanislaus College, The Scots School, Bathurst High School, and Kelso High School.

Transport

Roads

Bathurst Goal

Bathurst is a regional highway hub. Several roads including the Great Western Highway, Mid-Western Highway, Mitchell Highway, O’Connell Road to Oberon and Bathurst-Ilford Road all start in Bathurst. Other major roads in Bathurst include Durham Street, Eleven Mile Drive, and Bradwardine Road.

Rail

Bathurst Railway Station is located ten minutes’ walk from the city centre. It is serviced by CountryLink trains and buses east to Lithgow then on to Sydney, north west to Dubbo, west to Parkes, and south to Cootamundra.

Bus

Local bus services provided by Jones Bros Bus Company operate in the surrounding suburbs of Bathurst, with a bus interchange in Howick Street, opposite Stockland Bathurst. Interurban bus services are provided between Bathurst and Lithgow, Bathurst and Orange, Bathurst and Oberon and Bathurst to Sydney, these services depart from the Howick Street bus interchange.

Air

Regional Express Airlines is the only airline providing passenger services at Bathurst Airport; it services the route with three daily return flights to Sydney. Several flight schools operate from the airport, and it is used very frequently by trainee pilots during their navigation training.

Bathurst Region development

Kings Parade

Bathurst’s location close to Sydney and on major highways places it in a desirable position for decentralisation plans by various governments over the years. Several decentralisation plans relating to Bathurst can be identified:

1. In the late 1940s the Curtin Federal Government encouraged the NSW Government to establish regions for regional development purposes. Bathurst and Orange were grouped as the Mitchell Region and established as such in 1945. Later the new Menzies federal government dropped support for the regionalisation scheme however the NSW Government continued, albeit modestly, promoting the regionalisation plan.
2. on 3 October 1972 the Federal Government and New South Wales Governments agreed on a plan to introduce a decentralisation policy to various regions in NSW. This plan included a pilot growth centre in the Bathurst-Orange area and was known as the Bathurst Orange Development Corporation (BODC). Initially 13 areas were proposed however only four were established with Bathurst-Orange and Albury-Wodonga the only in rural regional NSW. The project would comprise of domestic, commercial and industrial developments and would develop the area economically, raise new capital investment, bring population to the region and create new employment opportunities. A statutory body was established by Act of Parliament to manage the BODC. The Act was effective from 1 July 1974. A key focus for the BODC was the purchase of land and to that end it purchased 209 properties around Bathurst valued at $22 million. A decline in regional trade as a result of changing global trends and the international depression and the oil shock during the mid-70′s resulted in a declining interest by developers in new facilities. The BODC progressively received less and less government support and nearly went broke. Several large new employers moved to Bathurst as part of the BODC initiative including Uncle Bens (now Mars), and Omya Minerals.
3. In 1989 the Greiner Government promoted the Regional Hub strategy that encouraged regional centres that had natural growth potential. Bathurst was one of 12 regional hub locations in NSW that received support funding for development of University expansions, administration, health and general education sectors.
4. In 2010 a new plan to attract residents and therefore business to regional centres was launched. The marketing name is EVO Cities a name coming from Energy, Vision and Opportunity (EVO). Seven NSW regional cities including Bathurst have developed the EVO City strategy at a local government level with funding provided by the NSW and Federal Governments. The strategy largely relies on advertising in capital city markets to promote residents to relocate to the EVO Cities.

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