A Town Like Bathurst

Bathurst has a population of 30,744 and is located on the Macquarie River 207 km west of Sydney on the Great Western Highway. It was founded in 1815 on the orders of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, and named after the British Colonial Secretary, Lord Bathurst. Bathurst is the oldest inland town in Australia and was proclaimed a city in 1885. It was intended to be the administrative centre of the western plains of New South Wales.

Bathurst's economy was transformed by the discovery of gold in 1851. It later became the centre of an important coal mining and manufacturing region.

Raising sheep, cattle and horses began with the earliest European occupation of the area, and is still an important industry, run on large holdings near the city.

However, Bathurst is a regional services centre and education is now the largest single industry. It hosts a campus of Charles Sturt University and has several secondary schools including:

• Denison College - This public, co-educational school has s two campuses: Kelso High Campus and Bathurst High Campus
• All Saints College - private, co-educational
• MacKillop College - private, girls only
• St. Stanislaus College - private, boys only
• The Scots School - private, co-educational

Other sectors of the local economy include fruit and vegetable production, a vegetable cannery, a fish processing plant, a pet food processing plant, government departments and community services.

Bathurst is the seat for both Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of Bathurst. It’s also a tourism centre. Bathurst is well known for the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit, venue for the Bathurst 12 hour motor race each February and the Bathurst 1000 motor race each October.

The city offers much to its residents and is a fine place for skilled immigrants to consider.

Community information: http://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathurst,_New_South_Wales