Gulargambone, New South Wales

Gulargambone is a village in the central west plains of New South Wales, Australia, on the banks of the Castlereagh River, in Coonamble Shire. It is 382km (and 490km by road) north west of Sydney. At the 2006 census, Gulargambone had a population of 395.Its name is derived from the local Wiradjuri people's word for "Watering place of many birds" or 'Gillahgambone' for 'place of galahs'. Gulargambone was first occupied by Europeans in the mid nineteenth century and gazetted as a village in 1883.The town came to national attention in 2000, when the local government attempted to close down the post office, leading to the opening of the first community owned post office in Australia, which has been followed by a number of other community led initiatives. These include the improvement of the local hospital, creating a multi-purpose health centre, the opening of a new cinema and the transformation of the old cinema, Simmo's Bazaar, into 2828, the community centre, featuring a cafe and a gift shop. It has also adopted a town logo, the galah. This has led to Gulargambone becoming the model for self-sufficiency for other small towns in Australia. Gulargambone has won several awards since its revival and most importantly was awarded the 2005 NSW Tidy Towns State winner.