Bureaucrats converged on properties with offers that could not be refused, draining Cobbora of people and trust.

This week at nearby Dunedoo, a group of residents told of a town that sticks together through thick and thin.

A lone but emphatic voice begged to differ.

“There’s a lot of good people here and the mine’s come here, set people against people, and ripped the guts out of the joint,” he said.

The yet-to-be-built mine swept away friends of all ages, neighbours, customers and community stalwarts.

Resulting social turmoil is unmeasurable but perhaps not insurmountable.

The Cobbora Hall Group for one is keen to restore social connections and contentment.

At the gathering of residents, a copy of a letter was handed to the Daily Liberal.

It bore the signature of William George Baker of the Cobbora Hall Group and was addressed to Dubbo MP and chairman of the Cobbora Transition Committee, Troy Grant.

“While Dunedoo’s economic downturn certainly needs to be the main focus of your efforts, it would be a travesty to overlook the social impact on the community of Cobbora itself,” Mr Baker wrote.

“The departure of around 80 families as a result of the CHC’s (Cobbora Holding Company) property purchases has fractured the structure of the Cobbora community.

“The departures have meant that remaining families have lost lifelong friends, neighbours, workmates and school friends.

“This is a difficult social wound to heal, but the Cobbora Hall Group has recognised the importance of the issue and taken on the task of creating a support network for the community.”

Mr Baker said the group had restored the village’s hall to be the focal point of community activity and support it was when built in 1915.

The cost of the work had been covered almost entirely by Old Cobbora Courthouse owners Penny Stevens and Rob Ingram, on whose property the hall now sits.

They have injected about $100,000 into the almost 100-year-old building.

Small donations from community members have also helped get the village treasure to the point of being able to host events, including a wedding next month.

In the letter Mr Baker appeals to the Cobbora Transition Committee to help the Cobbora Hall Group nab some of the cash from the $20 million Cobbora Transition Fund, set up by the current state government to stimulate the economies of the Warrumbungle, Dubbo, Mid-Western Regional and Wellington local government areas.

The fund acknowledges the impact on communities of the delay in launching the CCP that will be offered for sale or lease after gaining development approval.

“I shouldn’t prejudge your advisory group, but it seems these processes always manage to ignore the human element of such impact,” Mr Baker told Mr Grant.

“I believe your committee can recognise the social effect on the Cobbora community and acknowledge the inspiring efforts of the Cobbora Hall Group by making a grant to assist with the signage and landscaping still to be completed at the hall or to sponsor one of the events helping to again create a cohesive community.” 

It was Mr Ingram, a freelance magazine journalist well-known for his Country Squire column in Australian Country Style, who handed over the letter and then backed up Mr Baker.

He expressed confidence that the hall was key to the recovery of a battered and bruised community, now able to come together to “discuss their problems and find solutions”.

“It’s important that when this transition spending is organised that they don’t ignore the social aspect, the human aspect,” Mr Ingram said.

Both Mr Ingram and Ms Stevens extol the virtues of community events in lifting the morale and social well-being of communities, as well as boosting visitor numbers.

They see “uncertainty” pervading Dunedoo where “everyone’s plans are on hold”.

The couple pointed to “pride amongst the locals” since Dunedoo Lions Club launched Art Unlimited with the help of a hardworking committee and volunteers.

Held on a long weekend every May, the show attracts entries from across the nation and overseas.

“Artists and art lovers come from all over the state,” said Ms Stevens, event manager of Art Unlimited for six years.

Mr Ingram said on opening night “everyone turns out, dressed in their best”.

The couple are not alone in noticing the distress of Dunedoo and district folk, left to carry on.

Many have a story to tell, including Chris Sullivan who greets everyone by name.

“We’re pretty positive people, renowned for helping each other to get things going,” he said.

But the CCP has made help hard to find sometimes.

Mr Sullivan tells of the owner of a property adjacent to the mine getting bogged in his tractor.

“He didn’t have a neighbour to help pull him out,” the town elder said.