Yaraka 2017!

Let us ask you this; how would a population drop in your city or town of 1/3 effect your everyday living?   As an example lets take Ballarat with a population hovering at 100,000 residents – a nice round figure – and suddenly a third of the population up and leave. Can you imagine the collateral damage?  The word catastrophic would not go amiss in describing the effect on the local economy and services across the spectrum.

Well 2017 has seen Yaraka lose a third of its population. Les Thomas, the genial host of the Yaraka Hotel for 26 years, prior to us buying it from him, together with his daughter, Jillian and son-in-law Steve and their children, Sydney, Jordan and Ned have departed to take up residence on a property they have purchased just outside Roma. And “Honest’ Bob and Kathy Long who have their house opposite the Yaraka Store have decided to retire to somewhere in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and a ‘For Sale’ is now on their front fence.

So Yaraka loses a 1/3 of its population and this is not the first time! It happened when the railway closed the line back in 2005 – again a third.

However there is a difference this time in as much that when the railway workers left in 2005 so did most of their living accommodation which was transported elsewhere.  This time there will be two very pleasant three bedroom air conditioned homes available for rent at a ridiculously  low  rate compared to coastal rents, and Bob and Kathie’s house will be on the market at a price which is pocket money compared to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – it’s not even the deposit at those places!

And last year we wrote that exciting news was in the making. Well the exciting news is the Yaraka Store has been purchased from the Longreach Council!  The new owners have exciting plans for not only reopening the store and stocking it with essential and interesting lines that will appeal to not only locals but tourists. They will also restore the unique little cottage next to the shop and hopefully tea gardens between the shop and cottage.

So there we are!  We will put the notice out:

RESIDENTS REQUIRED FOR YARAKA!