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We are renting here having sold our house in springfield earlier in the yr.
The good:
- close to everything you need (ish) Its a 15-20 min drive to get to springfield and or ipswich if you need anything but there's a coles across the highway (3kms) away
- There is a real sense of community here. People are friendly and everyone really gets into things like halloween and xmas etc.
- The water pressure is good LOL
- Houses are all pretty new being a new area.
- Not really any roaming dogs. Lots of cats though.
- There's literal mobs of friendly roo's everyday LOL along with lots of other wildlife if that's what you're into.
- Being so many renters there are some hoons but mostly its pretty good.
- Can't speak about the schools but they're MASSIVE from the outside... only 1 way into and out of it though and the streets aren't open to half the estate yet. Its frustrating as hell.
- Gardens and green spaces are really well planted and maintained for the most part.
- The splash pad area is a fabulous meeting place and always full of families and parties etc esp on weekends. Its really nice to be able to do that kind of stuff locally and not have to go to springfield etc.
- There's local markets etc here, Nothing major at them but its nice to get out every month or 2.
- Its very multicultural here but everyone is super friendly :)
-The new mini hospital looks great but i havent used it yet (and plan not to lol)
The bad:
- There's a mega dump literally across the highway known as swanbank and as a result the air is horrifically bad when the wind blows the right way. Which, for us thus far (3m) it's been at least 3x a week. It smells like dump mixed with green waste processing plant... It's been giving people breathing issues and rashes.
-DUST! Because White rock backs onto south ripley and so much is going ahead, you cannot open your doors and or windows without getting a layer of dust all over everything in your house. Cars even in garages are coated in it too. It makes breathing difficult on certain days and the sun looks like there's smoke covering it cos its so thick with dust.
-Houses are literally 1m apart. You CAN hear your neighbour pooping and vomiting etc... Its gross...
- There's not enough storage in tiny homes so everyone uses their garage for their stuff and leaves cars int he street so you have to stop every time you wanna pass someone going into or out of every single street in here. At night time you can barely squeeze a ford ranger sized car through the streets.
- The layout of streets is really crappy, be aware that maaaaany streets have 1 way into and out of so you cannot get out at peak times.
- There's only 1 way into and out of this ENTIRE estate. As such, add on at least 10+mins at peak hrs to get a turn at the intersection to get out. Its hectic.
- Prices- People are asking 1 million $ + to live NEXT TO A DUMP!! The dumps aren't going anywhere and its all about to be built out with more houses etc. WHY anyone would ever pay money to smell your wheelie bin meets tip face in your house/car/clothes is beyond me.
- There's VERY LIMITED public transport. The trains are coming as an extension from springfield central but that'll take at least a decade i'd say. Its still not even fully planned yet. THere are no shops here, no restaurants etc Nothing for kids to do either.
- Because of the stentch, clothes DO smell if you dry them on the line. Its gross. Don't do it LOL.
- If you don't like RAAF base noise don't live here. The jets and c17 regularly fly over sometimes really low.

All in all we definitely won't be staying here long term. Springfield is 1000x better lol

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.