Bathurst Regional Council

This article is about the local government area. For the regional city, see Bathurst, New South Wales.

Bathurst Regional Council is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Great Western Highway, Mid-Western Highway, Mitchell Highway and the Main Western railway line. At the 2021 census, the Bathurst Region had a population of 43,567.^[2]

Bathurst Regional Council New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Bathurst Civic Centre
Coordinates	33°25′S 149°34′E
Population	43,567 (LGA 2021)[1]
Established	26 May 2004
Area	3,820 km2 (1,474.9 sq mi)
Mayor	Dr Jess Jennings
Council seat	Bathurst
Region	Central West
State electorate(s)	Bathurst
Federal division(s)	Calare
Website	Bathurst Regional Council
LGAs around Bathurst Regional Council: Cabonne Mid-Western Mid-Western Orange Bathurst Regional Council Lithgow Blayney Upper Lachlan Oberon

The administrative centre of the area is located in the city of Bathurst, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of Sydney.

The mayor of Bathurst is Cr. Dr Jess Jennings, Deputy Mayor being Cr. Benjamin Fry, both unaligned politicians.^[3]

Bathurst Civic Centre at new year's eve (31/12/2021)

City, towns and localities

In addition to the city of Bathurst, the LGA contains the villages of Eglinton, Freemantle, Perthville, Rockley, Raglan, Georges Plains, Trunkey Creek, Brewongle, Vittoria, Peel, Wattle Flat, Sofala, Hill End, Meadow Flat, Sallys Flat, Caloola and Kelso

Demographics

Selected historical census data for Bathurst Regional local government area
Census year			2011[4]	2016[2]	2021[5]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	38,519	41,300	43,567
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	52nd	51st
		% of New South Wales population	0.56%	0.55%	0.53%
		% of Australian population	0.18%	0.18%	0.17%
		Estimated ATSI population on census night	1,634	2,244	3,153
		% of ATSI population to residents	4.20%	5.40%	7.2%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian	32.9%	31.5%	42.1%
		English	30.1%	29.5%	40.9%
		Irish	10.9%	11.1%	14.3%
		Scottish	7.3%	7.5%	10.6%
		German	2.6%	2.6%	–
		Australian Aboriginal	–	–	6.4%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	0.2%	0.3%	0.2%
		Arabic	0.3%	0.2%	0.3%
		Cantonese	0.2%	0.2%	–
		Punjabi	n/a	0.2%	0.4%
		German	0.2%	0.2%	–
		Nepali	–	–	0.4%
		Tagalog	–	–	0.3%
		Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	34.1%	31.1%	28.4%
		No religion, so described	16.0%	22.4%	32.4%
		Anglican	23.2%	19.1%	15.7%
		Not stated	n/a	11.3%	8.0%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	4.6%	4.2%	3.4%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	$544	$646	$796
		% of Australian median income	94.28%	97.58%	98.88%
Family income		Median weekly family income	$1,437	$1,632	$2,026
		% of Australian median income	97.02%	94.11%	95.56%
Household income		Median weekly household income	$1,142	$1,310	$1,585
		% of Australian median income	93%	92.54%	90.77%

Council

Current composition and election method

Bathurst Regional Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election of councillors was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:^[6]

Party		Councillors
	Independents	9
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:^[6]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Ben Fry	Balanced Bathurst[7]	Deputy Mayor
	Robert 'Stumpy' Taylor	Back Bathurst[8]	Mayor 2022-2023[9]
	Ian North	Independent	Mayor 2021-2021
	Marg Hogan	Marg Hogan Team[10]
	Kirralee Burke	Balanced Bathurst[7]
	Graeme Hanger OAM	Team Hanger[11]	Mayor 2017-2019[12]
	Jess Jennings	Better Bathurst[13]	Mayor - 2023-Current
	Andrew (Struthy) Smith	Back Bathurst[8]
	Warren Aubin	Team Aubin[14]

Election results

2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Bathurst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Figuring It Out	1. Sophie Wright (elected 1) 2. Natalie Cranston (elected 4) 3. Anne Balcomb 4. Jeffery Muir 5. Rowan Bracken 6. Gavin Press 7. Fiona Carlisle	7,520	29.7
	Balanced Bathurst	1. Ben Fry (elected 2) 2. Jaclyn Underwood (elected 7) 3. Beau Yates 4. Jasmyn Nankervis 5. Kirralee Burke	4,565	18.0	−2.0
	Better Bathurst	1. Jess Jennings (elected 3) 2. Nick Packham 3. Sharon Sewell 4. Shona Kennedy 5. Angus Thompson	2,972	11.7	+3.4
	Team Back Bathurst	1. Robert (Stumpy) Taylor (elected 6) 2. Timothy Fagan 3. Kelly Richardson 4. James Connors 5. Rebecca Mathie	1,866	7.4	−10.1
	Independent	Tony Gullifer (elected 5)	1,844	7.3
	Greens	1. Elaine West (elected 9) 2. Elizabeth Barrett 3. Cath Jackson 4. Steph Luke 5. Julie Kramer	1,455	5.8
	Bathurst United	1. Warren Aubin (elected 8) 2. Lachlan Host 3. Andrew Sherlock 4. Teodora Todorova 5. Warren McCaull	1,292	5.1	+0.5
	Responsible Financial Management	1. Geoff Fry 2. Juanita Kwok 3. Margaret Hargans 4. Michael McCormick 5. Rob Quinn	877	3.5	+1.9
	Commitment To Our Community	1. Graeme Hanger 2. Luisa Simeonidis	669	2.6	−4.4
	Bathurst Matters	1. Stuart Pearson 2. Ingrid Pearson 3. Pauline Graf 4. Irene Hancock 5. Timothy Herbert	616	2.4	−0.8
	Independent	Ian North	547	2.2	−7.8
	Independent	Liam O'Hara	534	2.1
	Together We Can Fix This	1. Stuart Driver 2. Larry Lewis	306	1.2	0.0
	Independent	Marilyn Osborne	168	0.7
	Independent	Gordon Crisp	78	0.3
Total formal votes			25,309	91.8	−0.9
Informal votes			2,255	8.2	+0.9
Turnout			27,564	87.1	+0.8

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Central West § Bathurst results.[edit]

2021

Elected councillor		Party
	Ben Fry	Balanced Bathurst
	Kirralee Burke	Balanced Bathurst
	Ian North	TEAM NORTH
	Marg Hogan	Marg Hogan Team
	Graeme Hanger	Team Hanger
	Jess Jennings	Better Bathurst
	Robert 'Stumpy' Taylor	Back Bathurst
	Andrew 'Struthy' Smith	Back Bathurst
	Warren Aubin	Bathurst First

2021 New South Wales local elections: Bathurst^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Balanced Bathurst		4,943	20.0
	Back Bathurst		4,334	17.5
	TEAM NORTH		2,475	10.0
	Marg Hogan Team		2,119	8.6
	Better Bathurst		2,057	8.3
	Team Hanger – Working Together for Bathurst		1,737	7.0
	The Restore Bathurst Team		1,458	5.9
	Nick Packham for Bathurst		1,244	5.0
	Bathurst First		1,125	4.6
	Bathurst Matters		792	3.2
	Independent	Alex Christian	733	3.0
	TEAM BOURKE	Bobby Bourke	456	1.8
	Independent (Group J)		393	1.6
	Independent	Stuart Driver	292	1.2
	Team Singleton		214	0.9
	Independent	Catherine Strods	129	0.5
	Independent	Steve Semmens	105	0.4
	TEAM BOURKE	Jeff Muir	42	0.2
	TEAM BOURKE	Steve Ellery	25	0.1
	TEAM BOURKE	Ken Hope	21	0.1
	TEAM BOURKE	Michael Forde	10	0.0
Total formal votes			24,704	92.7
Informal votes			1,939	7.3
Turnout				86.3

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Central West § Bathurst.[edit]

2017

Elected councillor		Party
	Bobby Bourke	TEAM BOURKE
	Jacqui Rudge	TEAM BOURKE
	Ian North	TEAM NORTH
	Warren Aubin	Bathurst First
	Alex Christian	Ind. SFF
	Graeme Hanger	Independent (Group G)
	Jess Jennings	Independent (Group C)
	John Fry	Greens
	Monica Morse	Independent (Group B)

2017 New South Wales local elections: Bathurst^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	TEAM BOURKE		4,745	20.4
	Independent (Group G)		4,634	19.9
	Bathurst First		2,571	11.1
	Independent SFF	Alex Christian	2,190	9.4
	TEAM NORTH		2,093	9.0
	Independent (Group C)		2,118	9.1
	Independent (Group B)		1,945	8.4
	Greens		1,617	7.0
	Independent Labor	Nick Packham	926	4.0
	Independent (Group F)		421	1.8
Total formal votes			23,260	93.55
Informal votes			1,605	6.45
Turnout			24,865	84.86

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2017 New South Wales local elections § Bathurst.[edit]

History

See also: Bathurst, New South Wales § History

Bathurst was proclaimed a city in 1885.^[17] The Bathurst Region was created on 26 May 2004 as a result of a merger of Bathurst City and Evans Shire.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Bathurst Region merge with the Oberon Shire to form a new council with an area of 7,443 square kilometres (2,874 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 47,000.^[18] The outcome of an independent review was expected to be completed by mid–2016. Bathurst Regional Council was officially notified on 6 March 2017 by the NSW State Government that the proposed merger between Bathurst Regional Council and Oberon Council will not proceed. The letter from the Minister for Local Government Gabrielle Upton advising Council of the decision can be viewed on the Bathurst Regional Council official website.

Sister cities

Bathurst has had a sister city relationship with Ohkuma (Japan) since March 1991.The relationship provides an opportunity for both Bathurst and Ohkuma residents to learn about each other's culture and language. As part of the relationship Council coordinates the Sister City Working Party. This group is made up of different community members who have an interest in Japan and further developing the strong relationship that already exists between Bathurst and Ohkuma. Bathurst has sister city relations with the following city:^[19]

• Ōkuma, Japan, since 1991