Town seeks new life via $1/week rent
By Pauline Askin SYDNEY | Thu Nov 4, 2010 12:42pm EDT
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian rural community desperate to encourage new families to move in and revitalize the town is offering to rent farm houses to interested families for one Australian dollar a week. The hamlet of Trundle, 215 miles northwest of Sydney, has a population of 380.
Like neighboring communities, it has struggled with years of drought and is hoping that the cheap rent -- the equivalent of 95 U.S. cents a week -- will bring in new life and help fill up schoolrooms. "The numbers at school have been declining as is the number of people in town," Dannielle Ward, Trundle Hotel publican, told Reuters, noting that things were tough for places like Trundle after a decade of drought.
"Hopefully this might turn (things) around," she said. The offer is extended to anyone looking for a "tree change and an adventure," using a local expression that means moving to the sort of rural, relatively undeveloped country area known in Australia as "the bush." "Are you handy with a paint brush and hammer? Keen to experience rural living?" asks the website set up for the scheme. (www.trundletreechange.com.au)
Interested families need to fill out an application form that asks why they would like to live in Trundle as well as what they hope to offer a rural community, and send it in along with a family photo. There are five farm houses available to rent right away, but successful applicants will need to be prepared to roll up their sleeves and apply a bit of elbow grease.
"Some of the houses need a bit of a clean and a bit of love but they're beautiful old houses," Ward said. One, though, merely needs "a sweep and a mop." Interest in the scheme is running high, with 130 emails received so far expressing interest. "I've been fielding calls for the last three days and I'm sure all the other business houses in town have as well," Ward added.
(Editing by Elaine Lies)
