Rudy
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An Australian rural community desperate to encourage new families to move in and revitalize the town is offering to rent farm houses to interested families for one Australian dollar a week.
The hamlet of Trundle, 215 miles northwest of Sydney, has a population of 380. Like neighboring communities, it has struggled with years of drought and is hoping that the cheap rent -- the equivalent of 95 U.S. cents a week -- will bring in new life and help fill up schoolrooms.
"The numbers at school have been declining as is the number of people in town," Dannielle Ward, Trundle Hotel publican, told Reuters, noting that things were tough for places like Trundle after a decade of drought.
"Hopefully this might turn (things) around," she said.
The offer is extended to anyone looking for a "tree change and an adventure," using a local expression that means moving to the sort of rural, relatively undeveloped country area known in Australia as "the bush."
"Are you handy with a paint brush and hammer? Keen to experience rural living?" asks the website set up for the scheme. (www.trundletreechange.com.au)
The hamlet of Trundle, 215 miles northwest of Sydney, has a population of 380. Like neighboring communities, it has struggled with years of drought and is hoping that the cheap rent -- the equivalent of 95 U.S. cents a week -- will bring in new life and help fill up schoolrooms.
"The numbers at school have been declining as is the number of people in town," Dannielle Ward, Trundle Hotel publican, told Reuters, noting that things were tough for places like Trundle after a decade of drought.
"Hopefully this might turn (things) around," she said.
The offer is extended to anyone looking for a "tree change and an adventure," using a local expression that means moving to the sort of rural, relatively undeveloped country area known in Australia as "the bush."
"Are you handy with a paint brush and hammer? Keen to experience rural living?" asks the website set up for the scheme. (www.trundletreechange.com.au)
