Jeff May

We moved here 6 months ago from Sydney and despite some negative opinions voiced about the suburb from people that have never lived here have found it has exceeded our expectations. Admittedly some of the surrounding suburbs are a bit rough, however the area we are living in (which has streets named after politicians) is quiet, middle class and great value with my house costing less than $300K. Avoid the areas that have a large percentage of rentals, you can easily pick them. The people here, though not affluent seem for the most part to be down to Earth and friendly. I haven't found they have a "chip on their shoulder" like many in Western Sydney. Access to the city or west to Ipswich/Toowoomba is easy with the motorway nearby.

I lived in Winmalee for 5 years until recently and found it to be a quiet, leafy area where neighbours keep to themselves. The main problem here is that the morning drive to Springwood which is about 4km can take up to 25 minutes. Something really needs to be done to widen Hawkesbury road and improve access onto the Highway. The two roundabouts at Springwood only make things worse. Another issue is that most of Hawkesbury Road is a school zone. Other than that It was a nice place though property values have fallen in recent years which works well for buyers but not for sellers. The rates are steep, about twice what I'm now paying in Brisbane and the Local Council is autocratic and Left leaning which may appeal to a handful of people but not the majority. The bushfires last summer didn't reach Winmalee, but like the rest of the Blue Mountains they are something to consider if you are looking to move here.

We moved here in 2003 from the Gold Coast looking for a relaxing, rural lifestyle. What a mistake. Fortunately by March 2005 (the 3rd to be exact) we were able to sell up and leave. Had a falling out with our neighbours basically over their intrusiveness. One day the woman next door came into my house via my backdoor unannounced, very strange for a city person to deal with but perhaps the way they are away from the civilized world. Afterwards I got to see how crazy the couple really were. As the guy owned guns I really was scared at times for myself and my family. We were told off by the waitress at a local Chinese restaurant for using too many plates (she keep taking them away when we had finished eating off them). Another time I was told off by a waitress in a cafe for eating a lolly my wife had handed me. Whilst we met some nice people it was the not so nice ones that stick in my mind. My kids hated the local school and have nothing but bad memories of the place. And then there's the climate. Do you really want to live somewhere that regularly goes below -10C in winter? There's nothing here for teenagers most of whom would either move away or stay and take drugs.