25/07/2008 | ANDREW Roach – the young man who has guided the fortunes of Blayney Shire Council for the past five years – has resigned to accept the position of general manager of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.
“My appointment to the position of general manager five years ago was a brave move for the then council,” Mr Roach said yesterday. “I was the youngest general manager in NSW and broke the status quo of local government management in the state.”
25/07/2008 | QUESTACON’S Earth Quest Exhibition will open in Bathurst tomorrow with a weekend of exciting activities to celebrate the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum’s fourth birthday.
This weekend, children under 16 will be admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
“It’s our birthday and we invite the public to celebrate with us,” public programs officer at the museum Penny Packham said yesterday.
25/07/2008 | Bathurst Health Council has welcomed news that the maternity ward at Bathurst Hospital will not be closing.
Greater Western Area Health Service eastern cluster general manager Narelle Davis attended Wednesday night’s Health Council meeting to answer questions posed by the group on behalf of the community.
Health Council chair Julie Ann Maher yesterday said Ms Davis was keen to allay concerns about rumours that Bathurst’s maternity unit was under threat of closure.
25/07/2008 | Local wines will be sold at the Bathurst Farmers’ Market this Saturday for the first time since changes to the Liquor Act were introduced.
Previously the sale of wine was only permitted at the individual vigneron’s cellar door.
This will add another dimension to the Farmers’ Markets, held each month at the Bathurst Showground, by allowing one-stop shopping for delicious local produce and fine wine.
25/07/2008 | Receivers trying to sell the troubled Mount Panorama Resort may have an interested party right on their doorstep.
Bathurst Regional Council has been mooted as a potential buyer for the resort, but management was this week unwilling to confirm or deny any plans.
The $50 million development has sat idle since receivers Deloitte were called in last August.
23/07/2008 | The bell at the Bathurst Saleyards which tolled for the last time at the site’s final cattle sale in May has now been retired to display at the Historical Museum.
Bathurst District Historical Society president Christopher Morgan believed the bell was of local historical significance and he wrote to council asking that the bell be given to the society to be preserved.
23/07/2008 | A SOLICITOR has launched a scathing attack on the way All Saints’ College handles cases of harassment and bullying in a cross civil action heard last week in Bathurst Local Court.
All Saints’ College had taken the family of the student to court to have outstanding school fees amounting to about $6000 paid in full.
23/07/2008 | BATHURST experienced another one of those cold winter days on Tuesday when the maximum temperature of 10.2 degrees Celsius was below the long term average for July.
Bathurst can usually expect average July maximum temperatures of 11.2C but this year has seen below average maximums on seven days when the mercury has struggled to rise above 10C.
23/07/2008 | TWO women loaded an empty pram with a large number of items they stole during a shoplifting spree at the Stockland shopping centre.
The women had been found in possession of $500 worth of babies’ clothes, six children’s toys, 11 pairs of sox, 10 tops, nine sets of sleepwear, seven pairs of shorts, a shirt, tracksuit and two sets of woollen shoes.
23/07/2008 | Well-known local campaigner Alf Halpin said he was very humbled to be presented with a Roden Cutler Charity Recognition Award yesterday.
His award was for being “a wonderful achiever and role model in the areas of community service/disability support”.
“I accept it on behalf of all the others who do work in this field,” Mr Halpin said.
He serves on Bathurst Access Committee, presents on 2MCE-FM and sings songs at Illumba Gardens, the Seymour Centre and Bathurst Nursing Home.
23/07/2008 | Tania Holmes was overwhelmed to learn her nine-year-old son Trace had secretly nominated her for a Roden Cutler Charity Recognition Award.
Ms Holmes was yesterday one of 80 local carers presented with a medal and certificate to honour their dedication during a ceremony at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre.
23/07/2008 | A FACT-FINDING mission to the UK, Ireland and Italy would make Gerard Martin a more informed member of parliament, the Bathurst MP said yesterday.
Mr Martin will decide today or tomorrow if he is to join an exodus of state politicians flying overseas for taxpayer-funded study tours during State Parliament’s winter break.
22/07/2008 | A security fence erected along the front of three derelict houses in Russell Street on Friday has already been breached.
It appears likely the squatters who have made themselves at home in the empty buildings refuse to be locked out.
Planning and environmental services director David Shaw said the temporary fence was erected by the property owners in response to being served with a notice by Bathurst Regional Council.
22/07/2008 | A new light is expected to dawn on the Catholic church in the Bathurst dioceses after local pilgrims involved in World Youth Day (WYD) returned yesterday with a new drive and vigour to keep their faith strong as well as achieve more in the community.
Around 25 people returned to the Cathedral after spending the week enjoying WYD with approximately 125,000 international pilgrims.
22/07/2008 | HEAVY rain over the Bathurst district on Sunday night has done little if anything to alleviate the concerns of district farmers who are still facing another month of below
average rainfall.
Light rain on Sunday afternoon preceded heavier showers that petered out through the night leaving only 10mm in most rain gauges for the 24 hours to 9am yesterday.
22/07/2008 | Members of Bathurst’s Rail Action Network will take their fight for better services all the way to the top this morning.
The delegation to meet Transport Minister John Watkins includes mayor Paul Toole, council general manager David Sherley, cultural services director Lesley Atkinson, CWA president Christine O’Rouke and community members John and Margaret Hollis and Chris O’Rourke.
22/07/2008 | A FORMER teaching priest appeared before Bathurst Local Court yesterday facing 33 charges of sexual assault on five students, dating back to the 1980s.
Former St Stanislaus’ College teacher Brian Joseph Spillane has not entered pleas on any of the 33 charges.
Red-haired and bespectacled, Spillane – from the Sydney suburb of Riverwood – wore a dark suit with a tartan pattern scarf and sat quietly behind Sydney lawyer Greg Walsh in Bathurst Local Court.
21/07/2008 | A BATHURST road safety campaigner fears regional centres will miss out on a statewide upgrade of school safety zones.
Premier Morris Iemma last year announced “a $46.5 million investment over the next four years to improve safety around schools for our schoolkids”.
Mr Iemma said flashing lights would be installed at 400 schools, selected on the basis of their location, traffic accident history, traffic volumes, traffic speeds and student population.
21/07/2008 | EIGHT Bathurst men loaded backpacks yesterday in the shadows of the landmark War Memorial Carillon to start a life-time adventure retracing the journey of courageous Australian Diggers who fought the Japanese on the infamous Kokoda Track.
The party of eight in Bathurst were to be joined by seven others in Sydney last night before they fly out as a group of 15 today for Port Moresby.
21/07/2008 | Bathurst’s University of the Third Age (U3A) will be offering two new courses this semester, in military history and beginners bridge. The new courses, as well as 18 continuing courses, commence on Monday, July 28 and run for six weeks.
The University of the Third Age is a learning community for those in active retirement - the so-called ‘third age’ of life.