Glenden, QLD 4743

Despite what the inbred locals will tell you, Glenden is a dying mining town surviving by the skin of its teeth.

There is a local 'store' which adds a minimum $4 onto the price of EVERYTHING, sells rotting foods as a regular occurance (check your bread before eating) and is only open for a few hours a day (but not the hours the workers actually need of course),

There's a petrol station that does the same and closes on weekends and routinely over charges or doesn't follow their own signed sale prices. (Don't expect prices to be on either stores items either). Expect to pay near on $2 a L for fuel too. Always.

The post office is ok, as far as post offices go, but don't expect parcel delivery.

The pool is run by a woman who would rather berate and gossip about you than do her actual job and man the gate. Its opening hours are also a bit of a joke. (Used to be 24hrs if you could prove you were competent to swim and signed a waiver form) Its also never heated despite the installation of heaters yrs ago.

The towns parks are so full of bindies and burs you cannot under any circumstances ever walk your animals on anything but the tarred roads or take your shoes off. However they are always mowed and green in parkland areas thanks to underground sprinklers.There is a tennis court and basket ball court which have both seen better days but are quite useable and have lights for night time play when it cools off.

The pub is closed forever, however they are trying to open a new cafe/pub in the town centre (which if anything like the last 2 will only last a few months and provide very basic and terrible food. - pub used to run on 1 tab of beer or none at all)

The bakery and newsagent are also closed forever. You can get basic stationary at the post office though.

The Pharmacy is also closed however the dr's does sell antibiotics (but that's it). If you need medical supplies or to fill a script you need to drive 2 hrs one way to Mackay or Moranbah to get that filled. The dr's also rotate so you will never get continuity of care either (and expect the desk clerks to gossip about your private health info while patients are sitting in front of them waiting to be seen- I've witnessed this on at least 5 occasions in the past 3 yrs). Dr's refuse to prescibe sleep aids for workers that are forced to work rotating day/night shifts and struggle with sleeping as a result.

There is a school that while very well equipped, is losing students by the term. There is also 1 daycare currently being built which, like alll others before it, will very likely go bankrupt within 2 yrs. Leaving 0 care options for parents. There are usually only 1 or 2 extra curriculars on offer: swimming and soccer if you're lucky. For anything else, parents will need to drive their kids 2hrs one way to m'bah or mackay.

The roads to and from Glenden are some of the worst cared for in Australia (and i've been everywhere man) There are potholes that will damage your car, animals regularly jump from blind spots and there is ZERO PHONE RECEPTION outside the town for at least 45 minutes back to Mackay or an hour towards Collinsville. If you crash, you're on your own!

To top it all off, the town gets on average 43 days of rain per year. Thats being generous. It never rains more than 10 mins at a time and everything outside the watered areas of the town is dry, dead and crisp as a default. (Yes it gets green for the 1 week post a day of rain, just long enough to breed plagues of locusts and mosquitos and roo's that jump your fence and sh!t in your yard infecting your dogs with lepto and other diseases- then it dies again)

The town is lived in by 99.9% mine working families and a few council ones. Nobody stops their dogs barking all day or night despite knowing their neighbours are shift workers. There is theft due to it being a transient town- if you leave anything out the front of your house (ie under your carport) thats actually worth anything- expect it to be stolen especially over xmas breaks etc. The town has a VERY VERY clicky mentality. Who you are friends with will determine the outcome of your stay. Locals are quick to say things like "its what you make of it" however will actively bully and attack outsiders or anyone who doesn't meet the standard 'mining famly" dynamic. This dynamic of bullying flows over into the primary and 2ndary school as well. Students having an argument is gossiped about across the town and kids are expected to get along with everyone at all times because its war if they don't.

The houses are all 99.9% owned by Glencore and are not overly well kept. They're 30 yrs old and falling apart. However do get fixed if you kick up enough of a stink about things. Just don't expect good or clean tradies. Same goes for the mechanics and the like. Dodgy runs this town!

There is a local police station and the cop is nice but is very very rarely seen. He's really only there if you need him and the town had to fight to get a cop at all after the last one was transferred due to corruption. Same with ambulance and Fireys.

Overall Glenden is a tired, falling apart little town that has very very little to offer anyone especially families. The locals are lying when they say its a wonderful place. It used to be. It used to be a bussling metropolis. But these days its just a stinking hot at all times, dry, hole that everyone who comes here leaves after 12m.

Glenden is a purpose built mining town with the majority of the real estate owned by a major mine operator. Basic shopping needs are met by the existence of a grocery store and a handful of small shops. There is a service station, hardware, one public venue that has a family friendly atmosphere and dining. A school caters from pre school to senior although the numbers of students in the higher grades is very low and boarding school is the popular option. there are a small number of sport options but not much for children to do. A lovely public swimming pool precinct is popular. There are basic medical facilities and no hospital. A safe community where many locals know each other and most of the population work at the same place. a single persons residential facility is located on the fringes of town. Lovely golf course and bowls club. A little over two hours drive east to Mackay which is a large regional centre.