Councils

Bathurst deferred its Hereford Street football decision to October. Staff had recommended Proctor Park, supplemented by Walmer Park

Where Central West Football Club plays is not settled. On 16 September Bathurst Regional Council voted 5-4 to Defer further consideration of the proposal till the October meeting of Council, instead of endorsing the staff recommendation that the club stay at the Proctor Park Football Precinct, supplemented by Walmer Park, until Proctor Park is expanded. In July the club had asked for a lease of five to ten years over the two central fields at the Hereford Street Multi-Purpose Complex as its permanent home ground. The staff report estimated regular club use there would add $317,000 a year in council spending, plus $99,000 one off.

6 October 2026 3 primary sources, read 6 Oct 2026

What the council actually resolved

The item before the 16 September meeting, 8.3.5, recommended that council note the consultation and operational assessment, and endorse, as an interim arrangement, the continued use of the Proctor Park Football Precinct by Central West Football Club for its competition and training requirements, supplemented by access to Walmer Park where suitable and available, pending enough expansion of Proctor Park to meet existing and future football demand.

That recommendation was moved by Cr R Taylor and seconded by Cr J Underwood. An amendment moved by Cr S Wright and seconded by Cr W Aubin kept the noting clause and replaced the endorsement with the deferral to October. The amendment was carried, became the motion, and was carried on a division:

• For the deferral (5): Cr W Aubin, Cr N Cranston, Cr B Fry, Cr T Gullifer and Cr S Wright.
• Against (4): Cr R Taylor, Cr E West, Cr J Underwood and Cr N Packham.

Cr Ben Fry and Cr Sophie Wright were elected mayor and deputy mayor at the same meeting, each by five votes to four over Cr Robert Taylor (item 8.1.1). The minutes record no reasons for the deferral and give no date for the October meeting. So, as of the 16 September minutes, the interim arrangement is a recommendation, not a decision.

What the club asked for in July

The 15 July report (item 8.3.8) describes a proposal from the club for a long-term lease of between five and ten years, with a renewal option, over the two central playing fields at the Hereford Street complex, to make it the club’s permanent home ground for training, competition and player development, with infrastructure improvements to be pursued through grant funding. The report lists the club’s proposed weeknight training there as half a field on Mondays, two fields on Tuesdays and one field on Wednesdays, each from 6pm to 8pm.

Staff recommended declining the lease. Council instead carried a different motion, 6-2, moved by Cr B Fry and seconded by Cr S Wright. It reaffirmed Proctor Park as Bathurst’s dedicated football precinct and the preferred long-term ground for the club, supported secure tenure for the club at Proctor Park for an initial five years with two further five-year options (subject to consultation and review), and resolved to Support an interim, non-exclusive arrangement for CWFC to use the Hereford Street Multi-Purpose Complex, subject to availability and the negotiation of an appropriate commercial agreement, with a further report to come back. Cr T Gullifer was absent; Cr R Taylor and Cr E West voted against.

What the September report found

That further report is item 8.3.5. Against the July request for proposed commercial arrangements at Hereford Street, its own scorecard reads Not achievable as outlined in report, and its assessment is that Regular seasonal CWFC use is not recommended due to field capacity, operational impacts and additional recurrent expenditure. The main findings, as the report states them:

• Cost. Regular club training and matches at Hereford Street were estimated at $100,000 a year in extra maintenance on the two Multi-purpose Complex fields, $100,000 a year on the two Jack Arrow fields next door, and $117,000 a year in staff and plant costs: $317,000 a year in all, plus $99,000 in one-off plant and equipment. The report says no funding for these additional requirements is currently identified within Council's operational budget.
• Proctor Park capacity. Bathurst District Football, which manages Proctor Park, advised that it can accommodate all 20 home competition games allocated to CWFC each year within the football season; the club currently plays eight home games there. The report says the club has one field each Monday and two and a half fields each Tuesday for training, that two to three more fields on Wednesdays had previously been offered, and that Bathurst District Football is willing to enter a memorandum of understanding recognising Proctor Park as the club’s home facility, with a fixed-term field allocation.
• Walmer Park. Council identified it as possible supplementary training space, with lighting and toilets. The club, the report says, does not consider Walmer Park suitable for its requirements due to its accreditation requirement for teams to train together.
• Other users. The report says NSW NRL advised that if allocating Hereford Street fields to regular soccer left too few fields, it would have no option than to relocate their extensive development programs, gala days and State carnivals away from Bathurst to other regional centres. Council received more than 160 items of correspondence opposing soccer use of the complex and more than 75 supporting the club’s proposal.

The calendar that applies either way

The report sets out the club’s season as mid January to mid September, with pre-season training wanted on five dates in November and December. It says council cannot provide pre-season fields in November and December at any of its grounds because of the summer field restoration program, and that no council ground, Hereford Street or Proctor Park included, can host training or matches from January to March while oversowing is finished. Use of the Multi-purpose Complex would not be possible until April, which is also the case for the three regional sports fields at Proctor Park. Whatever October decides, the report places the first available council field in April.

Our view, labelled as such. July’s resolution asked staff to negotiate a commercial agreement for interim use of Hereford Street; September’s report came back calling that Not achievable as outlined in report, and recommended Proctor Park instead. The council then deferred that recommendation without the minutes recording why. The useful thing for the October meeting is a reason on the record: either a commercial arrangement that meets the cost and capacity findings above, or an endorsement of the Proctor Park arrangement. A second deferral would leave the club, the rugby codes and Bathurst District Football planning a season around a recommendation.

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