April Council Meeting News Report 2026

Published on 16 April 2026

Bathurst Regional Council held an Ordinary Council Meeting on 15 April 2026. Below is a media release collation from the meeting’s business papers.

8.1.4 BATHURST EMPLOYMENT LANDS STRATEGY

Council engaged consultants Egis Oceania to prepare the Bathurst Employment Lands Strategy (ELS). The NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure supported the preparation of the ELS through a grant related to the future rezoning application for lands on the western side of the City to support long term city growth.

The ELS notes that to date:

• CBD protection has been a long-standing planning priority.

• Neighbourhood Activity Centres (NACs) have been permitted but controlled.

• Retail growth has been tightly structured.

• Future growth areas will require appropriately scaled, accessible NACs with expanded service and employment functions.

The ELS acknowledges that the existing policy framework has protected the primacy of the Bathurst CBD but now requires refinement to avoid underserving rapidly growing neighbourhoods or limiting local employment and retail opportunities.

Based on recommendations and analysis from the ELS report, Council has resolved to:

receive the Bathurst Employment Lands Strategy prepared by Egis Oceania, December 2025;
apply the findings and recommendations of the Bathurst Employment Lands Strategy to guide future decisions on the provision and planning of employment lands within the City of Bathurst;
place the Bathurst Employment Lands Strategy on Council’s website and the Bathurst YourSay site and invite feedback from the community and landholders to inform its ongoing implementation;
commence an amendment to update Vision Bathurst 2040 – Bathurst Regional Local Strategic Planning Statement (2020) in line with relevant outcomes from the Bathurst Employment Lands Strategy, including updates to the City Structure Plan map, taking account of feedback received in relation to recommendation (c) above;
commence an amendment to the Bathurst Regional Development Control Plan 2014 to update the floorspace provisions for supermarkets to permit a maximum of two supermarkets within the E1 Local Centre zone at the Laffing Waters Neighbourhood Activity Centre with a combined gross floor area of 6,000m2 with no individual supermarket exceeding 4,000m2;
refer consideration of funding to pursue route investigations for a City ring road network to the budget process in years 2027/28 and beyond;
receive a further report from Council staff on land use options to stimulate economic development on Special Purpose zoned lands in the Mt Panorama precinct.

See full Council Report, here: https://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/files/content/public/v/1/minutes-and-agendas/ordinary-meeting-of-council-15-april-2026/ordinary-meeting-of-council-15-april-2026/reports/8.1.4-bathurst-employment-lands-strategy/8-1-4-bathurst-employment-lands-strategy.pdf

8.1.6 TRUNKEY CREEK HERITAGE DAY

On 12 March, Council and its Heritage Advisor Michael Edwards held a drop-in session at the Trunkey Creek Community Hall with the intention of helping community members understand what it means to be in a Heritage Conservation Area and what Council services are available to the community to help them maintain and conserve their properties.

The drop-in session was devised as an opportunity to:

• Introduce Council’s new Heritage Advisor to the Trunkey Creek community

• Enhance relationships between Council and Trunkey Creek community members

• Raise awareness of the availability of Council’s free Heritage Advisory service

• Explain parameters and eligibility criteria of Council’s Heritage Grant program

• Answer general questions about heritage

The feedback from the session was positive. Those attending now have a better understanding of what it means to be in a Heritage Conservation Area and are more informed about Council’s services that can help them conserve their buildings and interpret their history.

The questions that were raised were recorded and will be made into a fact sheet available on Council’s YourSay page for the Community Heritage Plan. This fact sheet will also be shared with community members who were not able to attend, and through the Trunkey Creek Progress Association and its network. Council staff will also work on expanding the Village Conservation Area Management Strategy assessment across each of the villages, as resources permit.

8.2.6 DRAFT DELIVERY PROGRAM 2025-2029 AND OPERATIONAL PLAN 2026-2027 (REVISED), DETAILED BUDGET 2026-2027 AND REVENUE POLICY 2026-2027 FOR PUBLIC EXHIBITION

The Operational Plan is Year 2 of the Delivery Program 2025–2029. It outlines how Council will deliver the Community Strategic Plan (CSP) 2025–2045 and translates long-term goals into practical actions, projects, and services within available resources. It consists of:

Draft Delivery Program & Operational Plan
Draft Revenue Policy 2026–2027
Detailed Budget 2026–2030

At present, Council is trying to balance affordability with service delivery yet is operating under significant financial constraints, including:

Rate pegging limiting revenue growth
Cost shifting from other levels of government
Declining or uncertain grants
Rising costs (inflation, wages, materials)
Growing infrastructure and maintenance demands
Increasing community expectations

These financial constraints contribute to key challenges such as maintaining service levels with limited revenue growth, managing growth infrastructure demands, balancing community expectations vs affordability and responding to increased rural service demands, without relevant extra revenue.

The 2026–2027 Budget focuses on maintaining current service levels, not long-term reform. This approach is not financially sustainable over the medium to long term. Council is actively working on reforms to improve sustainability, including:

Service prioritisation framework (what services matter most)
Organisation-wide service reviews (efficiencies & cost savings)
New asset management plans (better renewal prioritisation)
Focus on aligning spending with community value and outcomes

Outcomes of this work will inform future service levels and financial decisions.

To allow for community review and feedback, Council has resolved to place the full suite of documents (Delivery Program 2025-2029 and Operational Plan 2026-2027/ Detailed Budget 2026-2027, and the Revenue Policy 2026-2027) on public exhibition and invite public submissions from Thursday 16 April to Thursday 14 May 2026. Additionally, they have resolved to fix the annual fee paid to Councillors to the maximum determination made by the Remuneration Tribunal for the category Regional Centre and that Councillors be paid superannuation at the prevailing rate.

A further report will be provided to Council after the exhibition period to consider public submissions and the adoption of the documents.

See full Council Report, here: https://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/files/content/public/v/1/minutes-and-agendas/ordinary-meeting-of-council-15-april-2026/ordinary-meeting-of-council-15-april-2026/reports/8.2.6-draft-delivery-program-2025-2029-and-operational-plan-2026-2027-revised-detailed-budget-2026-2027-and-revenue-policy-2026-2027-for-public-exhibition/8-2-6-draft-delivery-program-2025-2029-and-operational-p.pdf

8.2.7 LONG TERM FINANCIAL PLAN 2026-2036

The Long-term Financial Plan is a 10-year rolling financial strategy supporting sustainable delivery of community priorities and integrates with key planning documents including:

Community Strategic Plan (CSP)
Delivery Program and Operational Plan

The plan, reviewed and updated annually, enables informed decision-making, prioritisation, and long-term sustainability.

Key Focus Areas of the plan are:

Managing future financial pressures and maintaining sustainability
Identifying revenue growth and efficiency opportunities
Assessing Council’s capacity to fund community priorities
Aligning financial planning with community outcomes
Providing 10-year projections across income, expenditure and cash flow
Supporting decision-making through assumptions, sensitivity analysis, and scenario modelling
Ensuring strong monitoring and reporting frameworks

In short, Council is financially stable in the short term, but deficits emerge over time without intervention. Long-term sustainability will require a balanced approach across revenue increases, cost containment, service optimisation and strategic investment in assets.

To allow for community review and feedback of the current plan, Council has resolved to place the Draft Long-Term Financial Plan 2026-2036 on public exhibition and invite public submissions from Thursday 16 April to Thursday 14 May 2026 and receive a further report after exhibition to consider public submissions and the adoption of the document.

8.3.1 WATER SUPPLY UPDATE

As at 31 March 2026, Chifley Dam was at 97.4%, with 29,308ML in storage. As of January 2026, Chifley Dam was no longer spilling. Winburndale Dam was at 89.0% on 31 March 2026, with 1,513ML in storage.

In Bathurst, the estimated residential water usage varies from week to week but currently remains at or below the target for Level 4 water restrictions. Over the last 4 weeks, the average estimated water usage for Bathurst was 11.0ML/d, or 135L/per person per day.

8.3.2 BATHURST TOWN WATER SUPPLY UPDATE

This report provides an overall update on Council’s efforts to lift the Bathurst Town Water Supply’s secure yield and reliability gap, which became evident during the last drought in 2017-2019 when the Bathurst community was placed on very strong restrictions and on several occasions a Zero Day/Town Water Supply failure prediction of fewer than 12 months was reported and climate forecasts persisted at a dryer than average indicator.

The detailed actions, updates and outcomes, particularly the Bathurst Town Water Supply current supply gap for a reliable water supply, the exclusion of the Burrendong Airspace Project, the long timeframe (if it is even viable) for the Fish River Supply Option, the predicted return to “dryer than average” conditions and the risk of drought in the near term highlights the criticality of Council’s current suite of projects.

As a result of this update, Council has:

a) noted the update on the Town Water Supply contained in this report,

b) acknowledged the recent resolution of the Winburndale Dam Operating Conditions matter and the resulting approved operating conditions,

And resolved to:

c) arrange a meeting to discuss the operating conditions with the Winburndale Dam Stakeholders Group,

d) endorse the approach outlined in the report to resolve the water supply yield and reliability gap, particularly, noting the following projects and/or actions;

• Immediate Term

i) Bathurst Water Harvesting Stage 1.

ii) Winburndale Pipeline Renewal.

• Short to Medium Term

i) Bathurst Groundwater (pending viable supply and regulatory framework feasibility if identified in current study).

• Medium Term

i) Bathurst Water Harvesting Stage 2.

e) advocate to relevant State Government Ministers, Agencies and Regulators the criticality of the abovementioned projects/actions given recent Government exclusion from the State Regional Water Strategy (RWS) projects, the apparent long timeframe for other Regional and Sub Regional Water Strategy (SRWS) Projects and the recent Weather/Climate Authority predictions of a return to El Nino and “dryer than average” conditions.

See full Council Report, here: https://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/files/content/public/v/1/minutes-and-agendas/ordinary-meeting-of-council-15-april-2026/ordinary-meeting-of-council-15-april-2026/reports/8.3.2-bathurst-town-water-supply-update/8-3-2-bathurst-town-water-supply-update.pdf

Media contact: Genevieve Green Media and Communications Officer

P: 02 6333 6179 M: 0448 685 340 E: genevieve.green@bathurst.nsw.gov.au

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April Council Meeting News Report 2026