Coonabarabran is drawing eyes and people from across the country, after placing third on Australia’s most active town for properties sold and off market in 2021. 

With demand for property and rentals at an all time high, Coonabarabran is jumping on the opportunity to beat the inevitable odds of small towns in slow decline. 

Warrumbungle Shire Council Mayor Ambrose Doolan said properties have been selling after barely making it to market.

“I think what we’ve experienced over the last little while now with covid, people realise that you don’t have to be in the middle of Sydney to run a business. With technology the way it is, I think they’re taking advantage of living out here where it’s clearly more affordable,” Mayor Doolan said. 

While the concept of a tree change is a familiar one since the recent evolution of working from home, Coonabarabran is taking a considered approach to create as much appeal as they can, including developing more property for residential and industrial areas, as well as a review of childcare facilities. 

“Speaking to the police Inspector Russell McArthur, he said that when attracting police from Sydney, one of the questions they always ask is how preschool aged children will get on in Coonabarabran. It’s pretty good at the moment, but we can make it better,” Mayor Ambrose said. 

To account for growing demand, a council-owned eight hectare block of residential land will be developed, creating room for the influx of soon-to-be locals. 

“There’s also industrial land in Coonabarabran that we’re looking for funding to finish developing, so there’s room for people who not only want to move, but are looking to set up a business,” he said. 

The industrial area of Coonabarabran, he said, has always suffered from low quality NBN connection, if any at all. Its improvement will be imperative to drawing more business to the town. 

“We had talks with the federal member Mark Coulton last week about what we’re going to do to fix that,” Mayor Doolan said.

As for the development of new houses, the jury is still out on how they will be developed, and whether the priority will lie in space or quantity. The decision will be made in consultation with local real estate agents who can target where the demand is.

“There’s a couple of schools of thought there, we don’t want to pack them in like they do at the coast…I’d like to give them a decent size,” said Mayor Doolan. 

While Coonabarabran may be leading the way, neighbouring towns within the Warrumbungle Shire have said that they want a piece of the pie too. 

“We’ve put the word out that if you have a block in Baradine or Binnaway that you’re not doing anything with, now is probably a good time to sell. If you don’t want to use it and somebody else will, why don’t you think about selling it and letting someone else have a crack,” he said. 

The initiative is an innovative attempt at creating a more involved and engaged community filled with people who choose to live there.

“We need kids filling netball courts,” Mayor Doolan said. 

The plans, despite being long-term, represent the beacon of hope that the pandemic has brought to towns whose numbers were previously in decline, and a commitment to reaching for new opportunity with both hands.