As mayor of Cabonne Shire for the past four years, Kevin Beatty has seen his region face more challenges than most.
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Severe drought which was followed by a pandemic and then a mouse plague have left the region with little time to take stock.
Now, finally out of lockdown and still dealing with the second wave of the COVID outbreak, the mayor is hoping things will start looking a bit brighter now that NSW has a roadmap.
"It's been extremely tough," Cr Beatty said.
"As a leader of a community that is obviously suffering because of COVID, as is... virtually the whole of Australia and the world really, to see businesses really struggle [has been hard].
"But, you know, in the same token, country people are very resilient. They work hard in tough times and fight through it, [and] I'm proud of [the way] a lot of the Cabonne people and businesses have."
Despite the challenges, Cr Beatty is eager to stand as mayor for another term, now that Cabonne's local government elections have been rescheduled until Saturday, December 4.
All NSW LGA elections were initially due to be held in September before COVID swept through the state.
While Cabonne is now out of lockdown and residents have seen some return to normality, like Orange, Cabonne is in need of tourists to help it fully recover economically.
"It's not good for businesses at all, or community spirits," Cr Beatty said.
"We've gotta get through the next couple of weeks when we can open things up on the 11th of October.
"After the opening up after COVID the first time around, back earlier this year, the amount of people [who] were stopping in our villages [really helped] all our businesses get back on their feet in a big way.
"People come to Orange to visit and then they go out to have a look at all the villages - in Cabonne and in Blayney . So [tourism is] important for the whole region."
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