Today, the Coonabarabran Times bids journalist Chris Ward a sad farewell, as he takes up a new career on the Mid-North Coast, closer to his children. Chris has been been an integral part of the Times team over the past three years and we wish him well in his new venture. Chris has signed off with the following piece.

Everyone has a story to tell. And for the last three years as the journalist at the Coonabarabran Times I have been honoured to be in the position to share some of those yarns with you all. Whether it be highlighting the generosity of residents who lend their car to a complete stranger going through a family medical emergency – a shout out to Darky – or different residents’ struggles with Council over water supply or roads.

Or the beautiful love story of Bill and Joyce Kelly for Valentine’s Day.

After three years of telling and sharing all your amazing stories with the community, unfortunately my own Coonabarabran chapter comes to an end. It is truly with a heavy heart that I pack up and leave this beautiful country town to return to the coast.

I will take on a position that allows me to be closer to my now teenage children, Kaden and Mia. Rather than being six hours away from them I will be a short 30-minute drive away.

The opportunity to spend every other weekend with them is a dangling carrot far too good to turn down. I would like to thank everyone in the Shire who took me in and made me feel welcome. The list is far too long but you all know who you are.

And finally to the team at the Times. I wouldn’t fnd myself in this position if it wasn’t for the faith that you showed in me. I will be forever grateful. And while this chapter draws to a close and it is goodbye for now, I’m certain I will see many of you again. 

I hope you continue to support the newspaper that so much work, love, passion and effort goes into producing each week. Your stories are too important and without the Coonabarabran Times there will be no one to share them with the community.

During my three years at the Times I have covered some weird and wonderful stories. I have had a close working relationship with many community members and representatives including the Shire mayor, Ambrose Doolan.

I found Cr Doolan to be a very down-to-earth and honest mayor, which is not something you often hear about any local government figures anywhere. But it was along with Cr Doolan that we were actually able to enact several changes for the community in my time here.

One of those is the impending works at the Number 3 Oval. It was actually one of the earlier stories I wrote when I started at the Times about the dilapidated facilities. It wasn’t more than a week later that Cr Doolan contacted me and thanked me for bringing the situation to his attention.

He told me at the time Council was making it one of their priorities to apply for funding to see the site fxed up. Not long after I wrote a follow-up story that Council had successfully applied for funding.

The fruits of that hard work will be shown in the coming weeks when new facilities are finally installed at the site. Another little project that started out of a conversation with the mayor was the clean up and rejuvenation of the Castlereagh River between the two weirs. The subject came up when councillors at the time were voting on whether to open Timor Dam for recreational use.

It was along with Cr Doolan that we were actually able to enact several changes for the community in my time here.

Cr Doolan was against it at the time and said he would rather see efforts go into fxing the river system to make it more attractive and usable. This started the ball rolling on many different stories which got different community groups involved and, so far, almost a million dollars worth of funding has been allocated to the project, with much work already carried out on the site with the eradication of different weeds.

With COVID-19 came a quick and sudden boom of people leaving the city in droves to relocate in regional and remote areas like Coonabarabran. With the sudden interest in our real estate, prices jumped and there were hundreds more enquiries than there were houses on the market.

It prompted the question from me ‘why doesn’t Council release some of its land so the town can grow?’ It seemed to be an idea that was a win win for everyone.

Not only would Council make money on selling off the land, but once subdivided they would make more money on rates, etc. Then there was the obvious flow-on effect of providing more work and jobs for residents as those homes developed. Again, it was another project that Cr Doolan backed and he identifed the “old chook farm” site on Reservoir Street as the ideal place for the town to expand.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will see some of that land made use of and homes being built.

And while I think Council left it too late and missed a great opportunity to take advantage of the mass migration to the west, there is still enough interest in the town to warrant such a project.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will see some of that land made use of and homes being built.

As far as one of the most memorable stories that I covered in my time here, it would have to be the big drug bust in 2022.

We had not long got back in the office from our Christmas break when news of the police operation broke.

For a short time Coonabarabran was in the national limelight as police described the sheer size of the marijuana farm that was discovered and raided in the Dandry area. The operation was reportedly run by a Vietnamese crime syndicate all the way out here in little old Coonabarabran. The haul was estimated to be worth around $67 million and described as the biggest ever on Australian soil.

For a short time Coonabarabran was in the national limelight as police described the sheer size of the marijuana farm that was discovered and raided in the Dandry area.

The news stops for no one, so although my time has come to an end the incredible team at the Times, as always, will continue to provide an excellent service to the community.

And in a final parting prediction for what I think (and hope) will be the biggest headline of the year, which is yet to come for 2023?

Funding for a new pool secured!