The Coonamble Shire is located in the north west of New South Wales.  The township of Coonamble is the main service centre for the area with the villages of Gulargambone and Quambone also within the Shire boundaries.  Situated on the underground Castlereagh River, the Coonamble township owes its existence to the discovery of artesian water in the area in the 1890’s. 

Coonamble is approximately 6.5 hours drive from Sydney and 8 hours to Brisbane via the “flat track” – a great alternate route to Western and North Queensland.  Coonamble has a daily commercial air service to Sydney via Dubbo and there is a coach service connecting passengers to the Countrylink XPT also at Dubbo.  Freight is carried by road transport or by rail with harvest the busiest time of year.

MAIN INDUSTRIES

The rich and diverse agricultural industry is the backbone of the Coonamble Shire.  Agriculture is based on extensive grazing and dry land farming, producing an average of 300 000 tonnes of prime quality wheat.  

The Coonamble district is renowned for its pasture and grasses that fatten stock all year round, resulting in fat lambs and quality wool. The growth in beef production in the  area has resulted in the Coonamble saleyards becoming one of the major cattle saleyards in the State, with a throughput of approximately 60 000 head of prime beef annually.

The Shire also boasts a significant horse breeding and horse racing industry.  An operational orchard, furniture making factory and other associated secondary industries also broadens the industry base. 

Business & Community

The Central Business District of Coonamble offers banking services, medical services, newsagent, pharmacy, supermarkets, agribusiness enterprises and computer services including a six terminal Internet Centre.     Three Clubs and four Hotels are available for social relaxation.

Education & Health

The Coonamble Shire has five schools offering quality education as well as the Western Institute of TAFE offering a variety of courses for post-secondary study.

Medical centres and a dental practice service the Shire, as well as the Coonamble Hospital.

Tourism

Tourism is on the increase with local farm-stays, hotels and motels providing base accommodation for day trips to surrounding attractions, such as the Warrumbungle National Park, Pilliga Forest, Macquarie Marshes and the Lightning Ridge Opal Fields.

Coonamble has an extensive calendar of events – from picnic races to twilight jazz concerts.    It is a very active sporting town offering excellent facilities to accommodate rodeo and camp-drafting events as well as thoroughbred racing and greyhound carnivals.