"Sometimes it feels like the only time someone wants something is when it's going to be taken away from you," said Tenelle Bond, owner/operator of the Establishment Bar in Dubbo.
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She was lamenting the lack of punters coming back to bars, shops and entertainment venues post-COVID lockdown.
"You walk down Orana Mall and it's dead. At 1pm on Tuesday there was no-one around," Ms Bond said.
"It's not just us, it's everywhere in Dubbo. You speak to so many people and it's the same everywhere."
When was the last time you supported your local businesses? Have you been out since the lockdown ended?
Ms Bond reckons that if each person in Dubbo spent money at one different business each week, all local businesses would have "enough to tick along".
"What we're trying to do is to find plenty of opportunities to host events - you just don't have the people turning up for it, that's the depressing part," she said.
Ms Bond's The Establishment Bar, modelled on the intimate, New York speakeasy-style trend that's capturing Sydney, is the quietest it has been since the pandemic began.
She's not lacking in offerings: the bar hosts live music every week and live comedy monthly. But the people aren't showing up and she's not certain why.
Let's get back to living life again. We've been held back for so long, let's start moving forward. It's not our normal, but it's our new normal.
- Tenelle Bond, owner/operator of The Establishment Bar Dubbo
"Either everyone is stuck in isolation and COVID is still running rampant; people bought cars or did renovations during lockdown and now they don't have any money left; or they're just gun shy," Ms Bond said.
"We're open for business and the restrictions are easing but it's worse patronage than what we had in the first place. Where are the people?"
Ms Bond took to social media to vent her frustration during the week.
"Get out and support your locals!" she wrote.
"We are a huge town with a large population (some may even call us a city).
"We get quite the influx of visitors and yet businesses are still waiting for customers to come back and visit."
She wrote that times had been "pretty full on these past couple of years" however it would be even tougher if "all these fabulous businesses" had to "close their doors" due to lack of patronage.
"Do yourself a favour (and them) and get back out and visit them once in a while - we miss your faces, even if it was just once in a while," Ms Bond wrote. "We know you'd hate to lose them!"
What's Ms Bond's message for the community?
"Let's get back to living life again. We've been held back for so long, let's start moving forward. It's not our normal, but it's our new normal," she said.
Dubbo Regional Council appealed to locals last week not to let cancellation fears deter them from purchasing tickets to shows at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre.
Mayor Mathew Dickerson said there was a flow-on effect - if people didn't buy tickets then the show wouldn't go ahead.
"I hope the announcement by the NSW Government of the further easing of restrictions gives residents more confidence to get out and about and to support the arts. There really is no need to hold back, you can catch it live and local," he said.
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