HERE lies Evocities: the plan to move anyone to anywhere but where they were.
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We gather here today, sadly, to hear Evocities has probably run its course, the ship has sunk.
Often when someone or something has met an untimely end, we reach for these cliches and well-worn phrases.
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It's the easiest way to ascribe meaning and sense to something which is hollowing in its materialisation.
Yet they fall short of completely encapsulating the things they're employed to define.
Evocities had a unique life.
It was almost detached from the seven councils which brought it into being.
It existed for everyone else who wasn't already living in those seven towns, holding the distinctly different cities up as the flower of life in a regional NSW town.
Less time in the car commuting to work and less money needed to buy a house were pitched as big selling points for regional life.
But uprooting your life for the "tree change" is tough and while regional Australia is made up of distinct and unique communities, they often face similar challenges.
Over the years, a variety of health groups have rallied for more services and personnel to create some sense of equity between city and country life.
These petitions and protests seem pretty stark when you stack them next to figures relating to the prevalence of particular ailments, disease and premature death west of the divide.
We've seen the New England region predicted to be one of the most heavily affected by climate change; the worst case scenario seeing Tamworth become 4.5 degrees hotter by 2050.
Since launching in September, 2010, the Evocities have collectively welcomed more than 3960 new households, which doesn't tell us how many people moved where.
Perhaps the death of Evocities has been exaggerated, but perhaps there is also a greater capacity for regional councils to collaborate to improve life in their communities. Get together and demand the government to take our issues seriously.