For 18 years, drought support has been underpinned by Western Plains Regional Development (WPRD), a Condobolin-based community organisation that has been tasked with improving local communities. Now, the WPRD building is welcoming its own drought support, after being granted $110,000 of funding to improve their headquarters which have cracked under the pressures of the drought. 

Western Plains Regional Development Executive Officer Jess Loftus says that after the building has withstood years of battering from the climate, it is no longer fit to work in. 

“Without improvements, I don’t want to say we’d close our doors, but we couldn’t stay, and we’d really struggle to offer the same services,” Ms Loftus said. 

Under the beating sun and cracked earth that became the norm not so long ago, the WPRD building on 18 William Street became victim to movement in the ground that brought cracks in floors and across the face of the building. Leaks in the roof became commonplace. 

“When there’s enough rain, this building effectively floods,” Ms Loftus said. 

Funded under the Drought Resilience Grant, the investment into the building isn’t about interior design or state of the art office facilities, but rather maintaining the space that aims to sustain the community in harder times.

“We are the main community hub here. Our drought support offers assistance to obtain funding and hamper packs for those struggling, but our space is also a meeting place for social gatherings in the drought. Those social interactions are crucial to maintaining mental health and suicide prevention,” Ms Loftus said. 

Part of the funding will be used to re-sheet the roof that has suffered from floods, and to provide better floodwater drainage. 

“Our community building was starting to feel the brunt of the range of extreme weather conditions we experience in the Central West, which meant we have not been able to use the building to its full potential,” she said. 

The drought resilience funding was secured under the Future Drought Fund’s Network to Build Drought Resilience program. 

Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud said the funding program focuses on local initiatives to enable agricultural communities to be better prepared for the impacts of drought. 

“Building drought resilience here in the Parkes electorate benefits the entire Australian agriculture sector. The stronger individual communities are, the more robust our industry becomes as a result,” Minister Littleproud said.