Cootamundra, NSW 2590

Cootamundra is a gorgeous old country town. Plenty of leafy parks and tree lined streets filled with grand old heritage homes. You can tell the locals take a real sense of pride in their town and it’s rare to see a untidy yard or rubbish anywhere.

The crime rate is very low with not too many down and outers compared to other surrounding towns.

The schools are great and there is plenty to do on the sporting front - the all year heated public pool is a nice plus.

On the negative, the locals are clicky and it’s hard to get a look in as an outsider - it’s a closed shop for newbies on the social front. Jobs in town are hard to come by and almost always go to a “local” - many travel to Young and Wagga for work.

The population is ageing and the local council has marketed town as a retirement village for a long time and it shows - the biggest employer is the nursing home since the abbatoir closed a few years ago. Plenty of chemists and places to buy mobility aids and not much else - the main Street is full of vacant shops and you do need to travel to Wagga for some items or services.

The Hospital is understaffed with no resident DR and is no longer routinely serviced by DR’s from the adjoining medical centre (where it’s hard to get appointment to see a GP).

I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Cootamundra but it’s not a place where we saw a future for our family. The, population has been on the steady decline for last seven years and things won’t change sadly as a good portion of the ageing population like things just the way they are.

We visit yearly to see parents and find the town a delight. Friendly, layed back and relaxing place to stay and live. Cootamundra is less then a hour to Wagga Wagga, 1 1/2 hours to Canberra and about 3 1/2 hours to Sydney. The major train line from Sydney to Melbourne goes through the town so you can also catch the XPT to either destination. From my limited experience it appears the Council and Town Planning are holding the town back, whilst they have many sporting events (touch, beach volleyball) that bring people to the town, they need to attract the larger business and franchises to town. If they continue to allow such business to go to towns only 30 minutes away then people will move to places like Young and Wagga Wagga rather than Cootamundra. Whilst I don't ever want to see Coota be a Young etc and maintain their small town status it has to be balanced and forward looking. All in all a beautiful town and I could easily retire here. Ensure you get a pest and building report prior to buying property especially older timber homes.