Mayor says parking plan would have created 'a much bigger problem' for CBD

The council chose to reject the final offer from the BIMC development group in a closed-door meeting on June 19, 2024, seeing the group's plans to lodge a development application (DA) shelved indefinitely.

Cr Jennings said the parties weren't able to get a clear agreement on a satisfactory outcome for the parking arrangement.

"The proponents of the Bathurst Integrated Medical Centre have notified council that they will not be proceeding with their development application, and essentially that means the project has been stopped by their decision, and it's disappointing for council and for Bathurst not to have that investment realised," he said.

While he is conscious of the health ramifications of the BIMC not proceeding, Cr Jennings said "a much bigger problem" would have been created by inadequate parking.

"The council voted unanimously because of the issue of car parking, in particular," he said.

"We felt like it was going to create a much bigger problem than it would have been solving, and to have inadequate parking in the middle of the CBD is not a desirable outcome when you're talking about bringing a lot more patients, a lot more customers and shoppers, and also all the medical staff to an area which is already quite busy with the RSL.

"If we were going to go down this path with the current parking arrangements, there was a great deal of concern amongst Bathurst councillors that that would not result in a satisfactory outcome."

According to the project manager for the BIMC, Zauner Construction, the proposal was for 570 parking spaces across three levels in the air space above the car park behind the RSL club.

The arrangement would have seen council retain certainty over fewer spaces than it has in the existing car park.

The council wanted 740 spaces in the car park, the director of Zauner Construction, Garry Zauner, said, with the expectation that the development group fund the additional 170 spaces.

"We're already at the very edges of our feasibility limit, so we really can't fund another layer of cars on top of that again," Mr Zauner said.

With a funding agreement unable to be reached, the development group has no plans to lodge the DA in the foreseeable future.

However, Cr Jennings still has hope that a boost to private health services in Bathurst could one day be forthcoming.

"At the end of the day, this is a commercial decision by the private sector and by the private medical sector, so we will be looking now as a council for alternative sites and alternative ways to induce private sector health investment into Bathurst, absolutely, and we'll move on from this," he said.