Uralla: journalist Heather Ewart and ABC Back Roads showcase town's sustainable mission

By the end of the conversation, the seed to create a community Co-Op in the small town of Uralla had been planted.

The enterprise is just one of the features of the country town hugging both sides of the New England Highway in North West NSW that caught the eye of a national TV crew.

Set up in what was once the town's hardware store, the registered charity receives donated goods, which are then sold, and the money is put back into the community through various groups and projects.

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It's also been able to respond to social emergencies such as the Lismore floods, when a truck-load of goods were sent to help those in need.

Volunteers and visitors use it as a social outlet, chairman, and one of the friends behind the starting of the centre, Ross Burnet said.

"There's a team on each day, and they have fun, and have a cup of tea together, and look after whoever comes in," he said.

Country girl, journalist, and presenter of ABC Back Roads Heather Ewart was told by friends what a great little town Uralla is, and researchers for the show had been looking at it independently.

ABC Back Roads takes national audiences along streets less travelled, and the crew timed their visit to line up with the Seasons of New England expo on March 25, a gathering of artisans from across the region selling unique goods at the Uralla Showground.

The event, which causes the town of 3000 to double in size, was pulled together after director Tara Toomey witnessed small local businesses getting lost in the landscape.

"We want to provide a platform for people to discover what small businesses make here in New England," she said.

But, it's really the town's sustainability that drew the production in, Ms Ewart said.

"While other towns talk about sustainability, and it's starting to go in that direction, Uralla thought of it years before," she said.

The week before Ms Ewart arrived, it was climate change minister Chris Bowen paying the town a visit, to open what could become the largest solar farm in the country.

Almost one million solar panels have been installed during the construction of New England Solar stage one, that will ramp up to full capacity of 400 megawatts in the coming months, making it the largest in the state.

Construction for stage two will start later this year, and generate 720 megawatts and power 250,000 homes, which developers say will make it the largest in the country.

At the grassroots level, Uralla locals are geared towards working together, and keeping waste minimal.

The town saw an uptick in weekend trade through COVID, and a café culture is developing, along with boutique shopping experiences, according to Uralla Shire Business Chamber president David Mailler.

"The paddock-to-plate experience is in a lot of product in the main street, and the cooperation that's going on is really unique," he said.

The unique business environment has cooked up a new menu item for Seasons of New England. Ingredients in a one-off, special pie created by local business The Pie Mechanic, are sourced locally.

Lamb from local butcher Dale's Downtown Meats, American lager from the New England Brewing company, and goats cheese feta from nearby farm Sunhill Dairy Goats, joins beetroot and spinach encased in pastry.

"I think over the years, the businesses have worked out if they support each other, they'll get better growth, than just trying to take from everyone," The Pie Mechanic owner Adam Hayes said.

On Wednesday, March 22, Ms Ewart and the production crew visited a property off Rocky River Road, belonging to town local since year 2000, Garry Byers.

Mr Byers is a classic collector. He owns two great danes, windmills, a pig, trucks, ducks, agricultural items, a snake, a boat, four puppies, and an assortment of cars.

He gets plenty of his stuff from the Co-Op, and volunteers there will even save him things they know he'll like.

"The locals just take stuff there, just give it to 'em, they sell it, and they'll put the money back into other places in the town, like charities," he said.

He and Ms Ewart got on like a house on fire, sharing plenty of laughs while he showed her the weird and whacky things on his property.

"I like country people," he said.

"Country people are friendly, and it's all about helping people. Just helping people out instead of being spiteful and nasty and things like that.

"Honestly, I'll keep collecting while I'm alive."

Mr Byers hopes people will see him on the show, and give his property a look. He'd consider making it a museum, but wouldn't charge.

"It's not all about money," he said.

The visit to Mr Byers followed a meeting with the man behind Uralla business Thunder Graphics, a maker of model aircrafts and ships worth up to $100,000, that have ended up in the Pentagon, and across the world.

"But he even uses leftover bits of piping or local products where he can," Ms Ewart said.

"It's almost like it's catching, everyone in Uralla is onto this."

The Back Roads tour of Uralla has been years in the making, but COVID kept them away.

But, the pandemic has had a silver lining, making Australians look more closely at their own backyards, Ms Ewart said.

She said when she was young, her peers always dreamt of going overseas, to London.

"Now I notice travelling, you see a lot more people on the road, heading around," she said.

"And we've got such a mixture of scenery. I mean, you've got snow fields, you've got the coast, you've got desert.

"And I just think it's such a shame if Australians don't get to see what's right here, and I'm pleased that finally the penny's dropped."

Getting Australians to appreciate their own country, especially the bush, is the aim of Back Roads, which is filming its tenth season, to air in 2024.

Ms Ewart is thrilled the show has made it this far.

"Back in 2015, we started filming, it was brand new, and there was some doubt amongst programmers at the ABC about whether it would work or not," she said.

"I was always confident, but I'm a country girl, and I just really wanted to give country people a voice.

"And lo and behold, it just took off, it rated its socks off from day one, so the powers that be had to say, 'ok, keep going'."

The show has even inspired viewers to take a Back Roads tour of the country.

One of the first towns showcased in season one was Yackandandah, in Victoria. The number of visitors and profits for businesses went up 30 per cent, Ms Ewart was told.

"I'm sure the same thing will happen with Uralla," she said.

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