Dunedoo

Dunedoo ( DUN-ee-doo) is a village of 747 inhabitants situated within the Warrumbungle Shire of central western New South Wales, Australia.

Dunedoo ( DUN-ee-doo) is a village of 747 inhabitants situated within the Warrumbungle Shire of central western New South Wales, Australia. Dunedoo is well known to Australian travellers due to its distinctive name (Dunny is a colloquial Australian word for a toilet). The name is actually derived from a local Aboriginal word meaning "swan", which are commonly found in the area's lagoons.

The town is located on the north-western edges of the Sydney basin.

Before European settlement Dunedoo and the surrounding area was occupied by the Gamilaroi and Wiradjuri peoples.

Allan Cunningham was the first British explorer to discover the area in 1823 while travelling Pandoras Pass over the Warrumbungle ranges to the Liverpool Plains. Surveyors studied the area in 1832 followed by squatters who settled the region. The town was founded somewhere in the 1840s and was originally known as Bolaro and later as Redbank. Dunedoo remained a small village throughout the 19th century and the nearby town of Cobbora was considered to be the regional centre for many years. However, Dunedoo's population grew substantially after the construction of the Gwabegar railway line and the opening of passenger services in 1910.Bolaro Post Office opened on 1 November 1876 and was renamed Dunedoo in 1909.The first half of the 20th century saw many of Dunedoo's residents fighting in both the first and second world wars, documented by the war memorial currently found in the town's park. The gradual loss of railway services in western NSW affected Dunedoo in the 1960s with the loss of passenger railway services, however freight trains still commonly use the line. Other services, such as the village's cinema, have also been lost over time.

In 2002, Dunedoo appeared in an ABC documentary entitled "A Loo with a View". Dunedoo is currently suffering the fate of many small regional towns of NSW in that its population is gradually decreasing. Many locals fear that the town will eventually be deserted and thus many creative ideas have been floated as possible methods of reversing the current trend. The Dunedoo District Development Group had proposed to build "The Big Dunny" in the hope of attracting tourists, as the Big Banana does for Coffs Harbour and big things in other parts of Australia.The documentary centred on "The Big Dunny" proposal, it was to have been a three-storey high building featuring five-star toilets, visitor centre, viewing platform, and even a radio station.Local shire councillor and farmer Frank Gaden was against it, reckoning it would be an embarrassment.Feasibility consultant Ian Farlow concluded it would, unfortunately, attract only 30 visitors a day which would not be enough to make it worthwhile, and proposed instead an environmentally friendly self-composting toilet block.The council decided against the latter and in the end nothing was built.2005 saw the town incorporated into the newly created Warrumbungle Shire, formed from the previous Coolah and Coonabarabran Shires. The town was briefly divided over the prospect of joining Coonabarabran Shire with many preferring the town be incorporated into the Mudgee-based Mid-Western Regional Council.

Dunedoo's climate is on the drier end of a humid subtropical climate (Cfa).