The local Collarenebri community has jumped aboard the tourism train, all eager to contribute to the town’s economic recovery. Since the hosting of their Tourism Workshop in the community earlier in the month, local residents are proving their creativity in their ideas to reinvigorate the town. 

While drought, Covid-19 and now potential flooding could have brought the population of 500 to its knees, the most recent round of community consultation has given a voice to locals and their thoughts on putting the town’s best foot forward.

Orana’s Regional Development Australia officer Kerry Palmer said the community is extremely resilient and will be even more so when capitalising on the ‘visitor economy’.

“We were able to engage a good proportion of the local Aboriginal community including some young people who were given a voice to speak out about their visions, and that’s pretty exciting,” Ms Palmer said. 

At the meeting was a 16-year-old Indigenous youth, who presented the idea of river walks to showcase the local culture. 

“There’s such a rich history and culture here that presents an opportunity to share and create an understanding through cultural tours,” Ms Palmer said. 

Another idea that emerged from a local pastry chef was a collaboration with local farmers to create a sourdough culture from Collarenebri products and use it to bake bread with a local storyline. 

“The domestic market is ripe and about to become full blown. It’s all about value adding to capture the imagination of people travelling through town and make them want to stick around,” Ms Palmer said. 

It’s a charm that the locals have in spades and they often roll out the welcome mat with travellers stranded from their Sydney homes earlier this year treated to the kindness of the community, offering to wash their sheets and bring them firewood. 

Tourism can’t rely solely on a good idea though, with infrastructure needing to be up to scratch to meet the demand. One of the future workshops coming to the community will focus on transport and movement. 

Currently, the town sees 83 per cent of road trains travelling through the region (Haulage going North, South, East and West) use the Collarenebri Road, with the trucks travelling right through the town’s main street. 

“There’s big issues around road safety and sharing the road with those big rigs,” Ms Palmer said. 

The town’s recent approval for a bore bath will also make it a key stopover on the renowned bore bath trail that weaves the area. 

“For 500 people, there’s so much going on here.”