Shrinking Australian town goes for growth

Sydney - Fewer people live in the Australian country town of Wycheproof than there are words on its website. But an innovative marketing programme is set to inject the plucky farming community with new blood and ensure its survival, the town's chief promoter said Friday. The worst drought on record sent the headcount down to 750 before Kylie Brown, who runs the post office, decided to fight back with a range of incentives for families up for a change in lifestyle. 'It's a very friendly town,' Brown said. 'We have a fantastic school here. It goes from prep to year 12 and is regularly in the top 10 state schools for their ... results.' The population is now 815 - and could get another boost as the town's latest wheeze gets about. Wycheproof, in Victoria's north-west, is offering spacious farmhouses for just a dollar a week in rent for those ready to commit to live in them for 3 years. Two properties are on offer, just a few minutes from the centre of town, and 13 are in reserve if the campaign sparks a stampede. The farmhouses become empty as drought-stricken landholders sell up and their acreage is incorporated into neighboring farms. As well as the basic one-dollar houses, smarter accommodation available at discounted rents. It's not as though Wycheproof is in the middle of nowhere. A three-hour drive along the Calder Highway to Melbourne, Australia's second biggest city, it's just a 90-minute hop to the bustling gold-rush town of Bendigo. The nearest cinema is only 30 kilometres away. Wycheproof isn't mired in joblessness, either. Its unemployment rate of 3.9 per cent is below the national average. 'Wycheproof offers so much and it's sad to see it die,' said Merv Gaylor, 51, who runs the local sports teams. 'Hopefully, the rent-a-farm will turn it all around.' Galylor, who was born Wycheproof and has witnessed its fortunes ebb and flow with the rain gauges on its farms, hopes the new arrivals will at least counterbalance the departures.