Ask RiotACT: Living in Murrumbateman

Think about the actual cost of running a vehicle(s) commuting, and I don’t mean just petrol and it isn’t cheap over a few years.

I have lived in Murrumbateman for 20 + years and travel to Canberra every work day, despite the negative comments about the drive I find it relaxing and an opportunity to sort out my day, the drive to my Dickson office is less than half an hour.
Some work mates from Tuggeranong and Woden take much longer.
Its a great community and lifestyle which is growing along with services in the town, not many places have the Health care facilities that we have. There are plans for a new vibrant Commercial centre with boutique shops, brewery and restaurants, new childcare centre and a Boutique hotel.
There is also the new Residential development FAIRLEY, land there is one third the cost of new land in Canberra.
I suggest you pop out have a look for yourself, have a chat to the locals and I am sure you will see a great community of people who love a relaxed rural lifestyle with easy commuting to Canberra and Yass.

Hi Kimmyr,

I live, love and breathe Murrumbateman – let me be the first of many to welcome you!

The lifestyle is second to none and fabulous for families. We moved from Amaroo about 10 years ago and set up in one of the small acreage estates. Our 2 children, now 8 and 4, have learnt about life through and love the land. Not sure how old your children are but our local preschool, ages 3-5 is fantastic.

There’s a fabulous community spirit, something I hadn’t experienced before living in Murrumbateman. So many community groups cross over and it’s a great way to meet people and get involved – if you want to of course.

Locally, there’s an increasing range of shops and services within the village (currently; service station/mini supermarket, rural store, pharmacy, hair dresser, takeaway, coffee/cake and more coming soon). The Village Market, 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month, is another highlight of living here. As well as being surrounded by fabulous wineries, there’s a family friendly pub/motel and Fairley Estate in the village is planning a commercial precinct complete with micro brewery, specialty shops, Abode hotel with a tourism focus. http://www.fairleylife.com.au

The drive in and out is nothing like others have mentioned – I drive it every day and use the time to mentally prepare for the day and unwind on the way home. FYI – Both major political parties have pledged millions in the current election towards duplicating the Barton Highway.

Murrumbateman offers value for money, when I compare our 600m suburban block in Gungahlin to our current land size (almost 20x that!) I know we’re on a winner.

I can put you in touch with a local social media group already discussing your questions – please PM my Facebook page if you’d like more info about Murrumbateman – like I said, I love this place!
https://www.facebook.com/murrumbatemangrapevine/

If you were saying that you were moving to Yass or Goulburn for because of prices in Canberra I might believe you, however Murrumbateman (and for that matter most of the rural places within a bit over 1/2 hour) are more expensive than the lower end of the Canberra market.

There are buses that go between Yass and Canberra that certainly do school pickups in Murrumbateman (and I presume there are ones for adults as well) if you are of that inclination. The Barton Highway is also a notorious stretch of road (on which I understand many accidents happen around Murrumbateman) for which people have been asking for an upgrade for at least the last decade.

Commute wise I would pick Collector over Murrumbateman (it already has a dual lane highway to go along), no idea on the lifestyles in the towns though.

A workmate who lived in Yass moved because he got sick of the commute.

gazket said :

You are concerned about the cost of housing in the A.C.T and are considering Murrumbateman? Sewriously? Have you even looked at real estate out there? $530,000 was the cheapest established home I could find on Allhomes.
For the commuting reason alone I would advise against it. A one hour stop start doing 60km/h every morning and afternoon would drive me batty. Just one trip on that road every 3 months is more than enough bumper to bumper for me.
Then again, if you can afford the country lifestyle, the cost of fuel and don’t mind the risk of a kangaroo strike every day, be my guest.

That’s on a good day. Driving from Murrumbateman to the city you would hit
every.
single.
roadworks.
I can’t even fathom what it would be like to work further away, in Woden or Tuggeranong. Might have to drive via Majura.

Considered Googong? Newer housing stock, comparable prices and better infrastructure. The commute seems less risky too.

I was very very tempted to buy a property at Murrumbateman 10 years ago when I was choosing a new house.
The prices were excellent for land with a decent-sized house on it.
In the end though, I decided the physical environment was enough of a con to cancel out the pros. West of Canberra has poor water security.

You are concerned about the cost of housing in the A.C.T and are considering Murrumbateman? Sewriously? Have you even looked at real estate out there? $530,000 was the cheapest established home I could find on Allhomes.
For the commuting reason alone I would advise against it. A one hour stop start doing 60km/h every morning and afternoon would drive me batty. Just one trip on that road every 3 months is more than enough bumper to bumper for me.
Then again, if you can afford the country lifestyle, the cost of fuel and don’t mind the risk of a kangaroo strike every day, be my guest.