Greg Westman's Weekly Column for 15/5/2012

As more people move to the Bathurst Region to enjoy our wonderful lifestyle and friendly community, it is important that Council plans well for future growth and assists the appropriate expansion of local business. At its meeting tonight, Council will discuss a proposed amendment to the Bathurst Regional Interim Development Control Plan, which would allow developers to create supermarkets at the Trinity Heights and Westpoint shopping centres over three times larger than those currently permitted. Such proposals reflect Council’s commitment to responding to community concerns raised through public consultation.

Residents will be pleased to know that final remediation works are underway at the former Bathurst Vale Road Saleyards. Cleanup activities, ongoing since the saleyards were closed in 2009, should be complete by the end of June, and these final works will see the area returned to an appropriate industrial/commercial standard. The long-term future of the Vale Road site is still to be determined, and Council will consider development options once the remediation works are finalised in a few weeks’ time.

Two of Bathurst’s educational institutions - Charles Sturt University, and The Chifley Home and Education Centre – are collaborating on educational projects as part of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council’s “Learning and Teaching In Public Spaces” program. The program pairs a University with a Museum to research improved approaches to learning and teaching. Through the collaboration, teaching students will examine the collection at Chifley Home and Education Centre to see how museums can be used as public learning spaces and develop new teaching resources. Visual Arts students will also develop their own artworks for a future exhibition at Chifley House.

And don’t forget, this Friday 18 May is “Walk Safely to School Day”. Now in its 13th year, the annual community event encourages primary school students and their parents to “put their feet first”, and walk or commute safely to school. Promoting road safety, health, public transport and the environment, Walk Safely to School Day is a great opportunity to experience Bathurst’s fresh Autumn air first hand – just make sure you rug up first!