Three-month report card on Collie

HAVING recently celebrated our threemonth anniversary as Collie residents, it called for a few moments of reflection and analysis of our experience.

I am pleased to confirm that the report card is a positive one (unlike some of my CSHS reports from Mr Patterson in the 1960s).

My wife and I have been very impressed with the, mostly, warm welcoming reception from Collie-ites: the casual waves and nods of acknowledgement from strangers, nice neighbours who have been extremely polite and tolerant of my music, tradies and businesses that have been prompt, courteous and reliable, and as anticipated, the beautiful watering holes within spitting distance of town are a delight...if not just a tad loved to death at the height of the tourist season!

However, as with every location on the planet, there have been a couple of regular discussion points around the Sunday barbeque.

They have been: l The coal dust has lived up to its reputation beautifully; l The number of trucks thundering through the heart of town must surely rival the Kalgoorlie Super Pit in number and decibel readings. With a major component of Collie's Just Transition Plan being tourism, hopefully some thought and planning has gone into a Collie heavy haulage bypass road? l Our regular morning walks have, too often, filled the shopping bag with rubbish. The bush walks have been the most disappointing, with a staggering amount of human excrement dumped out of sight, out of mind.

Why have we not learnt by 2023 that the “just chuck it out the window” and “just dump it in the bush” attitude is a disgusting relic from a bygone era?

Respect for the wonderful Noongar boodja we are all privileged to share is about leaving the smallest possible human footprint wherever we go.

- Rob Walton, Collie.