Where have all the flowers gone?

CWAA theme article on “A decade of withdrawal of services and the effect in rural and regional communities.”
By: Myra Pincott, President CWAA
Published in the December 2004 edition of the Australian and New Zealand Rural Science Journal

What a strange title for an article dedicated to the withdrawal of services to rural areas! But have you ever, in the course of your travels by road or rail seen a small community consisting mainly of vacant houses with overgrown unkempt house yards and boarded up shops? Have you ever wondered what may have been contributing factors to these semi “ghost” towns? Have you ever mused “Where have all the people gone?” or “Where have all the young men gone?” or “Where have all the flowers gone?” as you gazed at these seemingly deserted and desolate scenes? Let us consider what we see as some of the contributing factors.

The withdrawal of services from rural, remote and regional communities over the last decade has been almost without parallel. Far too often the service is terminated without appropriate discussion with the community involved, with follow on effects that could not possibly have been considered by the decision makers. Services essential to communities in the essential areas of health, education, communication, banking have all been decimated, with unfortunate results far beyond the initial loss.

I was recently made aware of the closure of a small hospital in north-eastern Victoria – previously a twelve bed facility, where eight beds were committed to general illness and convalescence, and four to residential long term aged care. Whilst one cannot dispute the soundness of the decision, if one only considers economic viability, let us consider the on going and far reaching effects on the community which had previously enjoyed their hospital and all that it provided. This community so much believed in the need for the preservation of the service that for some time they had contributed to its continuance by way of donations.

Following closure the following situation has developed:

The Director of nursing has retired from the work force, thus removing much needed advanced nursing skills and knowledge from the community. Of the eight nurses employed on a rostered basis, three, with their families including their spouses and twelve children, have relocated. Two may continue to gain part time employment at the Bush Nursing Centre which has replaced the hospital. The other three, married to farmers in the district and whose income was of prime importance, particularly in these recent years of drought, have been unable to move away. One husband has suicided – and can we really say that this was not as a result of loss of income which may have pushed him beyond the limit of his coping skills. The farm wives have also had to relinquish their second family vehicles, which sees them more isolated on their properties.

The local school faced closure, but due to a decision from a local school bus driver and another family who relocated their total eight children from another school in the district, the school will continue. Of course, this means that these children now have to travel 37 kilometres from the neighbouring district, instead of the 8 kilometres previously travelled to their “old” school.

The aged care residents did not fare any better, with one (perhaps the most fortunate) being transferred to a town three quarters of an hour drive away, one to western Victoria, a third who was also moved a distance away sadly within two days, and the final scenario was an elderly resident transferred to an aged care facility in New South Wales, a four hour drive from the small town where the placement was previously – not a good situation for family visits!

The community previously enjoyed the services of a physiotherapist, as one of the eight nurses employed had these skills. Now treatment is delivered by a visiting physiotherapist, only available one day per week, and residents suffer up to seven weeks’ delay before able to make an appointment.

I wonder whether the economic rationalists responsible for the decision to close this hospital and replace it with a bush nursing centre had thought of any of these possible repercussions. Two doctors remain in the town, but what is their ability to provide after care when they are thirty seven kilometres from their patients. The loss of income and spending power to this small community is devastating, and will no doubt take its toll on local business.

Another scenario of a withdrawal of service is the termination of a south western Queensland train some five hours travel from its previous termination point. This service operated two return trips per week to this community. Undoubtedly the passengers would enjoy the shortened final leg of their journey, now by bus and cut to two hours instead of the previous five. But what of the effect on the community which is based at the end of the train line and now has no rail service?

Previously, the train crew had an overnight stopover at the end of the line, which provided revenue to the accommodation venue, and additional purchases of stores from local business houses. The return trip by bus is done in one day. As one of these originating rail services is scheduled to leave the capital on Monday, when this coincides with a public holiday, the twice weekly delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables is reduced to one delivery. Consider the effects of this on a community based in one of the hottest areas in Queensland.

The railway previously employed a maintenance gang of up to ten fettlers, to guarantee the safety of this long section of line. A major problem was the buckling of the rails, caused by high temperatures, which demands constant daily inspection. With the closure of this section, the fettlers and their families have all moved away – yet another instance of loss of income to the local business houses, with downsizing of the school, and an ongoing effect on the local health services. The downsizing of the school means that those teachers now redundant because of decreased pupil numbers also move away, with their families – more income lost to the community.

The local railway station superintendent has also moved away, and the person who cleaned the train during its overnight stop has lost employment. In small isolated communities such as these, another job is not an easy thing to find, and this leads to more population loss.

A further blow has been struck by the rerouting of the major bus line which travels to the town where the rail now terminates – but only on some days. An alternative and continuing service now bypasses this town, once seen as the centre of the district. This inevitably causes more inconvenience for those wishing to travel to the capital city, or towns en route.

Let us now look at a snapshot of a small north coast town in New South Wales.

This community is situated on the Great Dividing Range, 132 kms from its nearest inland major centre, 70 kms from its nearest major coastal centre with a total population of 1700 to 2000 including its rural environs. Isolation is contributed to by the height above sea level, ranging from 2500 to 4000 ft.

This is a very generous community with funds raised by a local distance runner in his wife’s memory exceeding the per capita ration of any other town in New South Wales. The community also raised funds for an indoor stadium and a helicopter paid, with both totals being matched by a government grant.

Unfortunately the banks have been reduced to one with a credit union and a Post Office agency. The Court House has been closed, and the Police Station operates on the eagle phone system from the closest coastal town. The gift shop and shoe shop have recently closed, and the second butcher shop ceased trading some two years ago.

The local hospital has been converted to a multi purpose service, following strong lobbying by the community, and this is heavily supported by the community both in cash and kind. Recently the town was left without a doctor, as the sole General Practitioner suffered burnout and it took several months to find a replacement. This is was one of approximately one hundred towns who were without a local doctor.

The local tourist centre is manned and operated by volunteers attempting to promote the area, with an estimated one hundred and fifteen local groups of volunteers in the district. The tourists and their disposable income are seen as an integral part of this town’s survival. To buy and shop locally is not cheap but it is necessary to keep the town alive.

The question for all small towns is how to keep the services within the town and not allow the larger businesses and government bodies to opt for economies of scale thereby locating services to larger areas and closing the smaller facilities. It needs to be stressed that this community has no public transport or taxi facilities – a community bus has a restricted once weekly service to the nearby coastal centre (within school hours as this is also a local school bus). This community has the smallest high school in the state, and young people must give an address in the neighbouring coastal town for job interviews, or they have no chance of reaching the first interview.

To close, communities such as these continue to fight for survival – and it will be found that most are more than willing to work through a consultative process with any government department that can assist with their fragile sustainability – to use another phrase from our focus song – “When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?”