Best Country Town in NSW.
So I have just returned from 4 days in the NSW country town of Cobar. This was my place of birth 5 decades ago when my father was a country school teacher. He has always said that Cobar was the best country town he lived in. I can see why.
It is the third time I have returned for a weekend visit, and twice in the last two years. Right from the time I step into the town I get a welcomed feeling. I even feel something in my inner self. Am I kidding myself, or do I have some indigenous tie to this town?
This town which sits very close to dead centre of our state if you draw two diagonal lines from corner to corner. It is nine hours’ drive from the coast. It has all the necessary facilities, including the schools, and the sporting facilities. It has the pubs and the clubs. It has employment opportunity. Yet still it has the problems of many (most) country towns. People won’t move there.
As our country still experiences a mining boom, people prefer to fly in and fly out. I can understand this with some mining areas which are out in the middle of nowhere, with temporary accommodation built for the miners. However Cobar is on a main east west road, and the town within driving distance of the mines. People should consider how much better their life could be, if they moved their family to the town. Parents could see their children every day, instead of only on those blocks of days when they go home. What is more important to a parent, money or time with your family?
I understand the luxuries of living on the coast, or bigger cities are hard to leave. But the experience of country life is also there to be had. I accept that people reading this are wondering why I don’t go back and live there. The answer is simple in that my work is where I live now, and my wife would never consider it.
My wish is for the fly in and out workers to consider options. My dream is that this country town, and others like it, survive. We need our country towns.
ruthobato 