The Ophir https://theophir.au/ News for the Central West of NSW: Bathurst, Orange and the Central Tablelands. The Ophir reads the region's council business papers, project pages, budget documents and releases end to end, cites what it reads, and reports what it means. en Three of the four central west councils earn almost exactly the same per visitor. Bathurst is the exception https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/visitor-economy-four-lgas/ https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/visitor-economy-four-lgas/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 18:56:05 GMT Tourism Research Australia's LGA profiles put spend per trip at $485 in Orange, $485 in Dubbo and $488 in Mid-Western, and $335 in Bathurst. Two-year average for 2023 to 2024. Five offences are rising across Bathurst and Orange. Not one of them is rising in both https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/bathurst-orange-crime-statistics-2026/ https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/bathurst-orange-crime-statistics-2026/ Fri, 28 Aug 2026 01:54:11 GMT BOCSAR's local government area tables for the 12 months to March 2026 flag two offences as significantly rising in Bathurst, amphetamine possession and breach of bail, and three in Orange, stealing from motor vehicles, retail theft and trespass. There is no overlap. Blayney, Cabonne and Oberon show no significant movement at all. What separates the two lists is who reports the offence. Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo are all growing, and all three got nothing from the rate peg's population factor https://theophir.au/councils/rate-peg-2026-27/ https://theophir.au/councils/rate-peg-2026-27/ Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:16:00 GMT IPART set the 2026-27 rate pegs for all 128 NSW councils on 30 September 2025. In the Central West the final pegs run from 3.0 per cent at Orange and Dubbo Regional to 4.7 per cent at Blayney, against a state median of 3.7 per cent. Bathurst Regional, Orange and Dubbo Regional each recorded a population factor of zero despite measured population growth of 0.90, 0.85 and 0.69 per cent, because IPART's population growth measure is net of supplementary valuations. What the Central-West Orana REZ actually is, and why the wires matter more than the wind farms https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/what-is-the-central-west-orana-rez/ https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/what-is-the-central-west-orana-rez/ Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:18:00 GMT An explainer on the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone read from EnergyCo's own pages: what a renewable energy zone is and why NSW declared five of them, the roughly 20,000 square kilometres around Dubbo and Dunedoo, the 4.5 gigawatts of network capacity and 7.7 gigawatts of projects, the investment and jobs forecasts, and the access fees that fund the community benefit programs. Redleaf land goes on sale this month. The 20 per cent affordable share is a different thing from the blocks https://theophir.au/development-and-health/redleaf-affordable-housing-share/ https://theophir.au/development-and-health/redleaf-affordable-housing-share/ Mon, 17 Aug 2026 22:21:00 GMT Landcom and Orange City Council open sales at Redleaf, 300 to 526 square metre lots priced from $235,000 on 24.2 hectares of council-owned land. At least 20 per cent of homes are promised as affordable housing, and Landcom's own project page says delivery depends on funding and a community housing provider partnership. Four councils split the REZ's $45 million infrastructure fund. Each got within $104,000 of the same figure https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/rez-community-benefits-who-got-it/ https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/rez-community-benefits-who-got-it/ Sun, 16 Aug 2026 05:48:00 GMT EnergyCo's Central-West Orana REZ community benefits program was announced in October 2023 at an initial $128.4 million, funded from access fees paid by generation and storage projects. Stage One released $76.5 million through four grant streams. The published recipient tables list 74 grants totalling $66,062,047.30, with the $45 million Legacy Infrastructure Fund divided between four councils that each received close to $11.2 million. The $391m attached to Dubbo's Serengeti Resort is a 20-year projection, not a price tag https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/serengeti-resort-391m-projection/ https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/serengeti-resort-391m-projection/ Thu, 06 Aug 2026 05:25:00 GMT The NSW Government's July 2025 release puts $391 million against the Serengeti Resort at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, a figure that describes projected visitor spending over twenty years rather than the cost of the project. Taronga's audited 2023-24 annual report records the build as a $20 million state grant supplemented by $10 million to be raised by Taronga, and gives a different expected completion date again. The state has published exactly what it will measure to tell whether the REZ is costing this region: rent quarterly, crime quarterly, worker complaints monthly https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/rez-social-impact-monitoring/ https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/rez-social-impact-monitoring/ Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:51:00 GMT The Social Impact Management Plan for the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone transmission project names its monitoring indicators, their frequency and their owner, including median weekly rent tracked quarterly and complaints about non-resident workforce behaviour monthly. The community satisfaction baseline rests on an online survey completed by 127 people. Cabonne is rewriting what counts as a farm for rating, and zoning will not decide it https://theophir.au/councils/cabonne-farmland-rating/ https://theophir.au/councils/cabonne-farmland-rating/ Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:55:00 GMT The draft Farmland Rating Categorisation Policy endorsed for exhibition by Cabonne Council on 28 July 2026, read from the minutes and the exhibition notice. Orange just finished a $9.3m sewage upgrade built for 60,000 people. The city has 44,244 https://theophir.au/councils/orange-sewage-plant-headroom/ https://theophir.au/councils/orange-sewage-plant-headroom/ Thu, 30 Jul 2026 10:40:00 GMT Orange City Council has completed a $9.3 million rebuild of its sewage treatment plant inlet works, sized for a population of up to 60,000, against a current LGA population of 44,244 growing at 0.6 per cent. The Ophir does the arithmetic on how much headroom that buys. Orange will run its own planetarium, and it has put a price on a ticket https://theophir.au/councils/orange-planetarium-conservatorium/ https://theophir.au/councils/orange-planetarium-conservatorium/ Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT Orange City Council resolved on 7 July to operate the Orange Regional Planetarium itself, and put proposed ticket prices on public exhibition. It also named the Conservatorium building and its recital hall. Parkes is building itself into inland Australia's freight hub. Where the Special Activation Precinct actually stands https://theophir.au/university-and-economy/parkes-special-activation-precinct-freight-hub/ https://theophir.au/university-and-economy/parkes-special-activation-precinct-freight-hub/ Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:30:00 GMT The Parkes Special Activation Precinct is a NSW Government industrial estate on the Inland Rail and Trans-Australian junction, positioned to reach 80 per cent of the national population within 12 hours by rail. On 28 May 2026 the state announced $65 million of private investment and more than 200 jobs from three new tenants, taking the precinct to 12 businesses, with operations expected from 2029. Bathurst lands a new multicultural festival for November, fully state-funded and pitched as a visitor drawcard https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/bathurst-kaleidoscope-festival-2026/ https://theophir.au/community-and-visitor-economy/bathurst-kaleidoscope-festival-2026/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 03:40:00 GMT Bathurst Regional Council has won a Multicultural NSW Stronger Together grant to stage a new one-day festival, the Kaleidoscope Festival, at Victoria Park on 7 November 2026, at no cash cost to the council. The mayor and the local member frame it as community harmony and a visitor-economy boost. The Central West's university is the country's best at getting graduates into work, and it keeps most of them in the regions https://theophir.au/university-and-economy/charles-sturt-graduate-employment-2026/ https://theophir.au/university-and-economy/charles-sturt-graduate-employment-2026/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 03:10:00 GMT Charles Sturt University retained its number one national ranking for undergraduate employment in the 2025 Graduate Outcomes Survey, with 90.5 per cent of graduates in full-time work, and more than 80 per cent of its regional students stay and work in the regions after graduating. A heritage-precinct blueprint, a new flood model, and the Beyond 2026 money question: what Bathurst council decided on 15 July https://theophir.au/councils/bathurst-council-july-2026/ https://theophir.au/councils/bathurst-council-july-2026/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 02:40:00 GMT Six decisions from Bathurst Regional Council's 15 July 2026 ordinary meeting, read from the council's own meeting report: the TAFE heritage precinct renewal framework, a draft flood study, the Ernst & Young finance review, a refreshed bushfire map, the water-supply position, and a homelessness-event fee waiver. Newmont puts Cadia's worth to the Central West at $1.2 billion a year. In April, a magnitude-4.5 tremor stopped it underground https://theophir.au/mining/cadia-value-and-seismic/ https://theophir.au/mining/cadia-value-and-seismic/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 01:45:00 GMT On Newmont's own figures, Cadia is the Central West's economic giant: 1,800 jobs, $5.04 million in 2025 community investment and a stated $1.2 billion in gross regional value. Its own seismic updates record the other half: a magnitude-4.5 event in April 2026 that paused underground mining. Bathurst's hospital is getting a $200 million rebuild. Here is what changes, and the one date the plan does not give https://theophir.au/development-and-health/bathurst-hospital-redevelopment/ https://theophir.au/development-and-health/bathurst-hospital-redevelopment/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 01:20:00 GMT The NSW Government's $200 million Bathurst Hospital redevelopment is in construction: an expanded emergency department, a dedicated mental health unit, upgraded maternity and paediatrics, and expanded cancer care. What each part delivers, and the completion date the project page does not state. A $14.5 million fund opens for the Central-West Orana blackspots. It is money on offer, not towers yet https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/central-west-orana-rez-community-benefits/ https://theophir.au/energy-and-the-rez/central-west-orana-rez-community-benefits/ Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:30:00 GMT EnergyCo has opened a $14.5 million grant fund to improve mobile and internet coverage across the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone. What was announced, what the REZ actually is, and how the figure sits in proportion.