Travis Gilbert

If your only reference point was the Canberra Crimes, you could be forgiven for imagining a lawless crime ghetto exists on the ACT/NSW border.

But this was not my experience of Oaks Estate. Set between the Canberra-Sydney rail corridor, farmland, an active stock droving route and the meeting points of the Molonglo & Queanbeyan Rivers, it is a picturesque place with just 350 or so residents.

The river corridor offers a scenic linear park between the light industrial suburb of Beard & Queanbeyan proper. There are two well landscaped parks, a community garden with public toilet, a bottle shop, a breakfast & coffee vendor, 3 light industrial enterprises and a 24/7 car wreckers.

Located less than 1km from Queanbeyan Railway Station, one of the great things about living in Oaks Estate, is being able to stroll up the hill with your suitcase and board a train to Goulburn, Bundanoon, the Southern Highlands or Sydney. There are also connector buses to Batemans Bay, Cootamundra & Yass (For the Melbourne train).

For the green thumb, the village offers 3 nurseries while there is also a community hall that is available for hire.

About 60% of people live in detached homes, with a number of 19th & early 20th Century cottages & federation homes still bound by established native & hybrid gardens.

40% of people in the municipality live in flats & units on George, Railway & River Streets. The majority of these flats are owned and managed by Housing ACT while 2 complexes are predominantly private tenants with a small number of owner-occupiers.

For me, this provides a good mix of people with diverse and interesting life stories to tell creating a sense of community for most residents. Yes, I witnessed crime and I turned a blind eye to it - that's how things go in the Oaks.

It was rarely, if ever, violent crime and let's be honest, drug use and petty theft happen in every suburb and town, while people committing serious crimes conceal them in large houses and bank vaults & hide behind collars and ties.

I loved walking around the area day and night and I never had trouble with anyone I encountered. I walked the 40 minutes to Queanbeyan main street for groceries and to go to the pubs.

The one drawback for many people for whom running a car is cost prohibitive & mobility is limited, is there are only 4 connecting buses from Florence Street to the Queanbeyan interchange to connect to Canberra.

In its wisdom the ACT Government does not fund an ACTION service so the Cross-border express from Queanbo is the only option for people who cannot afford a taxi or Uber.

A final convenience, before the pandemic at least, is Oaks Estate's close proximity to the airport. A leisurely 8 minute drive or a 50 minute walk past the Redwood Forest for the adventurous

I loved living in Oaks Estate, it seemed a world away from the bureaucratic beast where I travelled too for work.

Don't believe the hype, Oaks Estate is an idyllic place offering peace and serenity - 95% of the time.