BATHURST's hopes of being the home of a new $15 million greyhound racing centre of excellence have just received a major boost.
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Neighbours and rivals Bathurst and Orange have been competing to get the facility - a replacement for the Kennerson Park track at Gormans Hill that was damaged beyond repair by spring flooding last year - for months.
There has been a recent sense, though, that Orange has its neck in front in the race as it has a site - the city's former paceway - in mind.
But that all may have changed after Greyhound Racing NSW CEO Rob Macaulay revealed to the Western Advocate that Bathurst Regional Council has offered the site of the old drive-in cinema at Mount Panorama.
"It's a fantastic site," he said.
"It's absolutely ideal and we're thrilled that Bathurst Regional Council is keen to be in the running for the Central West centre of excellence."
Mr Macaulay will travel to Bathurst later this week to inspect the site first-hand and while he wouldn't go so far as to say the city is in the box seat to get the facility, he said the location is a "strong competitor".
"I would say this a very, very, very strong competitor in a competition for the track," he said.
"It's genuinely a crossroads of NSW. It's very easy for our greyhound participants to get to the Central West, no matter where they come from.
"It's a great place to build and there's a lot of demand for us to build a track in the Central West."
Mr Macaulay said he had scouted several sites across the Bathurst region, however, none were deemed suitable because of price restraints.
"There are some absolutely superb sites, but the best one I came across was privately owned. It was just too expensive to buy," he said.
"Last week, the Bathurst council identified a piece of land for us that could very much be a game-changer."
And while Greyhound Racing NSW has been offered the site of the old drive-in cinema, council is also exploring the option of putting the controversial go-kart track there.
It's expected council will lodge a development application for the go-kart track in the coming weeks.
When asked about the potential clash, Greyhound Racing NSW was not fazed and said the site would be big enough for both the racing facility and a go-kart track.
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