For Kanimbla Valley residents the delivery of two new base stations in 2020 will see the end of the horror stories told by people who live without reception and reliable landlines.
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"One man had a heart attack down the road and had to drive himself and meet the ambulance half way," resident Jason Green said.
Then there was the story of the postie, who got stuck on the road and had to walk 2.5km to get assistance.
And then there was Mr Green's own close-call. On discovering his family unconscious in his home due to carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking wood heater, he found his landline out of action and had to walk 3km to raise the alarm.
A huge community campaign to get mobile service for the Kanimbla Valley has been rewarded, with the announcement of two base stations for the area on Monday, March 18.
There will be a Telstra base station at Kanimbla and an Optus base station at Lowther.
Calare MP Andrew Gee met Mr Green at Lithgow's Hassans Walls lookout on Monday morning to deliver the good news.
The funds for the stations were announced as part of the mobile blackspot program.
"This brings to conclusion an also five year campaign by the community for these mobile phone sites," Mr Gee said.
"It's been a really long haul for them but these towers have finally been delivered.
"I think it's going to make a real difference in the lives in this area because if we want our regional communities to continue to grow and prosper we've got to get them connected and got to make sure they have the modern communications for education, for tourism, for business and in particular for our emergency services."
The problems in the Kanimbla Valley were two-fold. Firstly there was the lack of mobile reception. Second, the landlines were notoriously unreliable, frequently dropping out in storms.
The single spot residents could get reception, at the Lowther Siding Road and Ganbenang Road intersection, became a popular spot for locals to make calls and receive messages.
Residents came together to launch the Kanimbla Valley Mobile Phone Black Spot Action Group, which began posting stories and pictures of some of the spots people could get reception, as well as news articles or incidents that particularly reinforced their need, including a Lithgow Mercury article on a Lowther fire in December.
"It's always been a safety concern for us," Mr Green said.
The group's spirits had been buoyed in recent weeks, by interactions on their social media with Minister for Regional Services Bridget McKenzie.
"It gave us hope something was happening," Mr Green said.
As a result of the announcement, Calare will receive six new base stations, including sites at Lowther (Optus), Kanimbla (Telstra), Sunny Corner (Optus), Limekilns (Optus) and five small cell sites, including one at Wattle Flat (Telstra).
Kirsty Horton
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
