Cathy Cullen lives in Lockhart and works in Sydney. She talks up the virtues of country lifestyle and how it works well for her. 

She is the face of the Country Change video promotion. 

“I feel blessed to work in a Sydney job which provides me with the work I want to do but provides me with this lifestyle … you can’t get a better office,” she said. 

Ms Cullen said her career hadn’t suffered and she enjoyed the country lifestyle. 

“We are 65 kilometres south west of Wagga and it is a 40 minute drive to get there, (but) you can get nearly everything here in Lockhart,” she said. 

Ms Cullen said one of her reasons for moving to the country was the fact that mortgages in the city were just so high.

“A mortgage here is manageable … it is a quarter of what it was,” she said. 

Ms Cullen said moving to the country was something she had thought about for a while. She said it gave her time to balance work and also have time to relax. 

Lockhart Shire Council tourism and economic development officer Jennifer Connor said the shire had been recognised the importance of being in the Riverina tree change project “Country Change.”

This initiative is being undertaken by Regional Development Australia Riverina to attract new residents and businesses to rural areas in the Riverina.

“Council committed funds to participate in the campaign which includes a four-month promotional campaign supported by ongoing web and social media promotions,” Mrs Connor said. 

She said the shire offers business opportunities, affordable, comfortable housing, excellent infrastructure, good health and education facilities and the great outdoors.

“It is a fabulous place to raise a family, to get ahead financially and to make yourself a better life and future.”

Stephanie Wettenhall moved to the shire and settled in the Milbrulong area about a year ago.

Her and her three children and husband had previously lived in Brisbane. 

She said working remotely had offered a range of possibilities. “I have been able to pick up work from within the shire casually and the kids are at the local school,” she said. 

“The sporting opportunities for the children are endless, much more accessible and affordable,” she said. 

Mrs Wettenhall conceded the travel distances were further, when  comparing to the city, however there were less traffic jams.