Delungra District Development Council (DDDC) chairman Harry McNaughton said the new signs, created by Danthonia Designs, were a collaborative effort.

“It’s as assured project between Inverell Shire Council and the DDC, we shared the payment of them; it’s a shared project,” Mr McNaughton said. 

The sign’s first design with a bird and landscape involved canvassing the community’s opinion, and Mr McNaughton said the DDDC received constructive feedback.

“The design of the bird they sent out, none of the locals that are bird fanciers would recognise those birds being part of Delungra,” he said.

Mr McNaughton distributed copies of the image with the bird on the sign to the Delungra Hotel, the service station and post office.

When the bird proved unpopular, it was suggested a koala might be more appropriate, and the DDDC took that on board.

“Well, there’s quite a population of koalas in Delungra,” Mr McNaughton said.

“We all liked them, and then these ones were drawn up and sent out to them and we liked the idea for them.

“It was a good exercise doing it with the council.”

Inverell Shire Council executive manager corporate and community services Stephen Golding joined the project when it was well underway to facilitate it to the end.

It was also a way for the recently passed Inverell councillor Barry Johnston to leave a lasting mark on his community.

Mr Golding said the said the the concept for new village entry signs for Delungra arose from discussions between Cr Johnston, the general manager Paul Henry and the Delungra community during the DDDC meeting in June of this year. 

“The previous village entry signs were in need of replacement and this presented an opportunity for Delungra to adopt a fresh, welcoming entrance for road users on the Gwydir Highway,” Mr Golding said.

“This partnership project between Council and the DDDC has resulted in the delivery and installation of two monument village entry signs.”

He said the entire project took in excess of four months to complete.