FOR the first time in more than 50 years, the cathedral city of Goulburn, in western New South Wales, is to have a resident bishop.

The Bishop of Canberra & Goulburn, the Rt Revd Stuart Robinson, has announced that he intends to live and work in Goulburn - the original see city - for six months in each year. The move comes as Goulburn celebrates 150 years since it was designated a city in 1863, by virtue of its having a cathedral.

The diocese of Goulburn became the diocese of Canberra & Goulburn in 1949; the last bishop to live there full-time was Bishop Ernest Burgmann, who began by living in Canberra part-time from 1947.

The Bishop's office in Goulburn is being renovated, and should be ready by about Easter; and a house is being bought in Goulburn. The move "underscores the fact that we are both a rural and what I describe as a quasi-metropolitan diocese", Bishop Robinson said.

It was "perfectly normal" in other Australian cities for bishops to live close to the cathedral, and be involved in its life, he said.