Bathurst circuit inches closer

Bathurst Regional Council recently purchased the final piece in their plan to establish a second circuit at Mount Panorama. 32 hectares of land to the east of Conrod Straight was purchased from orchardist Lee Rayner for a reported $4.4 million. This now gives the council 85 hectares of ground on which to construct the long-awaited track. Formal planning for the second circuit is expected to get underway in August. A total of $15 million has already been earmarked for the project across council, state and federal budgets. Bathurst mayor Garry Rush praised the move as a vital to the success of the project. “I think we will look back in decades to come at the magnitude of this deal in the push to bring the second track to fruition,” he told Bathurst’s Western Advocate newspaper. “The $15 million in next year’s budget is the main item in the multi million dollar management plan. We anticipate the settlement of this land deal to occur about the same time as the budget comes into force around the end of the month (July). “This is huge for Bathurst, I can’t stress that enough.” The second circuit is planned as a multi-use facility, but council has been very vocal on the prospect of securing high profile motorcycling events for the track.