Banding together and working with various organisations such as BlazeAid, they rose from the ashes, raising just under $1 million for victims through the Merriwa Sir Ivan Bush Fire Appeal.

On top of that, they have gone out of their way to support the community as a whole, hosting various fundraising events for charities such as the Where There’s A Will foundation.

Rural communities are full of resilient people but health statistics continue to show they lag behind those in metropolitan areas in both their physical and mental health.

With the isolation that comes from dedicating their lives to feeding the nation, it is more important than ever that people in these communities have a place to gather where they can exercise, socialise and relax.

That is why president of the Merriwa Tennis Club Robert Smith can’t understand why the community has been left in the dark when it comes to receiving funding to fix the surfaces of their tennis courts.

The Merriwa resident, who also owns the local pharmacy, said on top of running his business the process has been draining and unnecessarily difficult.

“We have been trying to receive funding for several years without success,” Mr Smith said.

“It has been a long term project that just doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere through conventional channels.”

Writing to all three levels of government, Mr Smith said that while he appreciates Upper Hunter Shire Council took the time to respond he thinks a lot could be done to improve the whole process.

“Council wrote back indicating they are interested in the project, but didn’t have the funds,” he said.

“A representative from Barnaby Joyce’s office was surprised that Council was not taking responsibility for the upgrade themselves and was going to write to them.

“We received no feedback from Michael Johnson’s office.”

Speaking of his experience with the tennis club and the town more broadly, Mr Smith said he believes there is a problem with the process of identifying key community infrastructure projects for small towns such as Merriwa.

“It would be good if local government could be more proactive in this area by tapping into the collective knowledge pool of other councils,” he said.

“I was surprised that when we received a grant to install new lighting at the Merriwa Tennis Club that the council’s technical staff had no input to the design of the project, even when we asked for it.

“The grants process is inefficient and unnecessarily complex.

“It is beyond the expertise of most small clubs to manage these projects and it takes a lot of time which deters organisational committee members from even attempting.”

Mr Smith said it would be more practical for local government to identify key infrastructure projects with community consultation and develop a hit list. 

“It would make more sense to see what has worked in other areas and then consult with the community to work out what will suit local needs,” he said.

“I don’t believe the grants offered are practical.”

Merriwa missed out on the most recent round of state government funding announced by Michael Johnson in late August as it was only for projects over $1 million.

“This is not funding that suits small towns,” Mr Smith said.

Left with no other option, the Merriwa Tennis Club has partnered with the Australian Sports Foundation who is assisting them to raise $60,000 to upgrade the courts to become a multi-sport complex.

The Sports Foundation offers a tax deduction for donations to sport and in 2016-17, raised over $44.65 million for sport in Australia. Tax deductible donations can be made at https://asf.org.au/projects/merriwa-tennis-club/.

The main issue is the cracks and flaking, however there has been a large community consensus to make the courts multi-purpose to accommodate other sports such as volleyball and futsal.

Upper Hunter Shire Council Mayor Wayne Beddgood said Merriwa Tennis Club provide a great service for the community including juniors and social events.

“Council is very keen to assist them in successfully getting a grant to upgrade the courts, as we have with other tennis clubs in the Shire,” he said.

“For example, with Council’s assistance Murrurundi Tennis Club received a grant for courts from NSW Sport and Recreation in 2005 and Aberdeen’s Sports and Recreation Hub includes two new tennis courts - replacing six dilapidated ones - also thanks to NSW Sports and Recreation funding.

“Woolooma and Parkville tennis clubs received court upgrades with Community Building Partnership grants,” Mr Beddgood said.

“Scone Tennis Club used a different model, applying for a loan from Council, which they repaid.”

Mr Beddgood said Council’s grants officer has been working with the Merriwa Tennis Club president to find and apply for an appropriate grant.

“Council would love to have more funds for recreational facilities, and that is a conversation we are having with the community as part of our consultations about a potential Special Rate Variation,” he said.

“In fact upgrading the Merriwa Tennis Courts is already on the Potential Projects List endorsed by Council. 

“We will be talking to people about potential projects that could be funded by a Special Rate Variation at ‘pop up’ events such as at Merriwa Touch Football on Wednesday 29 November. 

“We hope to see everyone there and hear their views.”