Murray bridge area

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

Im coming to Adelaide to start with the Police in March . After the training which will be July time im looking for somewhere to rent, im looking in the Murray bridge area as it seems a nice place. any advice in relation to this area and around it. Places like Mount Barker and Stirling seem in the location im interested in.

Going away from this area what about the Eliazabeth area.

Im looking at short term rental first to settle into an area whilst looking long term and for my container to arrive.

look forward to your replies

[Leicesterlad]

Check http://www.homehound.com.au/ for an idea of the sort of places available.

Murray Bridge is a growth area 76kms SW of Adelaide. Lots of new suburbs going up there. Mount Barker and Stirling are both near MB but are "primo" areas and quite expensive, but are also in the middle of the Adelaide Hills Bushfire Zone.

 

Many people would panic at the idea of living in Elizabeth but I live at Hillbank which is one of Elizabeth's suburbs, and love it. There are many really nice parts of Elizabeth and the local shopping centre is fantastic.

 

Try google maps as most of SA has streetview available so you can see what the suburbs look like.

[Guest kangomik]

Will it not depend on where you get posted?

Murray Bridge is a long way to travel daily if your posted near the city or north of it.

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

I have the choice of where to work, basically there are numerous local areas the Police operate. Murray bridge looks a good central area, however the problem is being given a station miles away. anywhere in the Hills area or Eastern Adelaide or Holden hills means i wouldnt have to travel to far. In England i work near Newcastle and i dont like to work where i live, dont know if its the same there, the area Murray bridge is in is called murray Mallie however covers as far as Pinaroo and Renmark so is a massive area. I would be happy to travel about 50km to work daily

[Guest kerfumph]

Why do you think they want coppers there? Answer, because it's a dump and no Aussies want to work there.

 

An example,

 

Local woman (repectable, good life style, etc etc, Lives on a farm) goes to enrole her kids at the local primary school in Murray Bridge. The head tells her not to, but better to travel to Mount Barker as all her pupils are inbred and ferral!

 

And some distances times you might want to know,

 

Murray bridge /Adelaide 1.5 hours busy times

 

Murray bridge/ Loxton 2.5 hours (most boring road in the world)

 

Adelaide /Renmark 4 hours

 

If they want someone in the hills take that, if you like to speed trap all day that is.

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

I take that as not the most positive response. Im also looking at the Renmark area as well, the thing with Murray bridge is i could work in several areas of Adelaide as there will be positions there, the problem with the Murray vallley area is the sheer size of it, i hope they will tell me the station then that wil help, im also looking in the Barossa area, at the moment im a bit indecisive, keeping my options open!!!

[Diane]

Go for the Barossa!

[Diane]

Or Gawler perhaps

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

Short and sweet any reason for it, as i say im keeping my options open, i have being looking at houses to rent in the Gawler and Tanuda area and this area seems ok to work in, quite small!!!

Elizabeth is another area however ive read more negatives

[Guest kangomik]

Join the club mate, your heads up your back side, excuse my french. Very few know where they will settle.

i think you looking at house prices and affordability, don't. It's not a good way to settle after making the trek.

Living in Murray and travelling to the cop shop off Lyons lane in holden hill is a nice journey, once or twice a month, not every day both ways, that trip will be split between 110KPH highway (watch out for the speed traps) and either a 60KPH drag down portrush or a trip over the hills, which is lovely but watch the steep drop, roo's and brake failure. Any one of those will kill you.

 

Barrossa is nice, i bet you would cover a large area there too, but there are a few towns dotted around.

 

My advice is have a look once you land, you just can't plan somethings before you arrive.

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

Thanks for that, the problem i have is in January i wil be given preferences of areas to work and need to make a decision. ideally i want to live close to work and thats the reasons for these areas, they always give me the option of working in one of the areas of Adelaide even though i would prefer the country.

I am also loking at Gawler and the other extreme Renmark as you can see i am not sure:huh:

[Guest UK2Adelaide]

I would say listen to the people who are already here and have been through it, in my opinion you would be really lucky to get a nik anywhere near the Barossa, unfortunately its the hard to fill places or places with a big turnover like Elizabeth or Adelaide that the Poms seem to get offered, its difficult planning where to live until you've got here and start at the academy and even then it can all change. OH is a Sapol bobby so if you need any more questions answering feel free to PM me. Good luck.

[Leicesterlad]

My OH regularly works in Tanunda, and other towns in the Barossa. The drive is easy from Hillbank (on the hill, just above Elizabeth East). So it would be easy to live in the valley and work in Elizabeth, or even Holden Hill nicks.

 

Roseworthy or Freeling are the best primary schools in the area but try to avoid Gawler High, if you work in Elizabeth nick you'll find out why.

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

Both holden hills and Elizabeth look like quite built up areas so would keep me busy, as ive worked in the city for 6 years (newcastle) im wondering whether to go for the easier country life. are these areas decent places to live as ive being looking in the Gawler area and also parts of elizabeth.

[Leicesterlad]

Lots of country cops in SA are at single person stations in small towns, or near the AP lands (far north-west Anangu/Pitjantjara).

The Riverland is prime posting territory, as is the south-east, for all public servants in SA.

Hillbank is a really nice area to live in, close to Elizabeth Centre (shopping) and with some good schools nearby, but Fremont-Elizabeth is a hard to staff school as is Craigmore, Smithfield Plains and Gawler.

Modbury and Golden Grove are pretty good areas and only 15-20 minutes from Elizabeth and there's a new police station at Golden Grove. The schools are better there too.

[Guest SCOTTYSUKSA]

gawler and barossa are lovely areas and only about 45mins drive to the city. Elizabeth is classed as a lower soci-economic area, with a few problems. When we moved to adelaide we lived next to elizabeth and didnt have any problems, but it is quite poor. If you are going to put your children in public schools try to go for a better area. In australia the standard of the school, goes with the class of the suburb. The schools in elizabeth are not very good. The north-eastern suburbs are quite nice and not too pricey. Hope that helps.

Helen

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

I have being looking in the Gawler and Barossa area, the schools are probably the most important decision i need to make, what are the other north eastern suburbs you can suggest.

Um hoping to work in these areas or nearby as well

[Guest SCOTTYSUKSA]

we live in highbury. which is quite a nice area. i also like tea tree gully, athelstone, newton, dernancourt. they are not too expensive and the schools around are quite good.

 

from these suburbs it take about 20mins (not peak time) to get into the city. the nearest police station to these suburbs is probably holden hill (10mins away)

 

Probably the best area for schools is the eastern suburbs. for example, burnside, magill, marryatville, wattle park, kennsington, stonyfell, beaumont, but these are quite expensive areas t buy (unless you catch a bargain).

 

need anymore help, just ask!

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

Thannks for them comments, ive being looking at the rental in all areas mentioned plus the likes of Gawler and the Barossa area. All seem nice areas with rental being resonably priced, and pleanty of schools in the area.

What is meant by the riverlands as a prime posting area?

This ara is also good for several different work areas for my preferences, there is holden hills, Barossa, Elizabeth or even Western Adelaide which is the port area. All appear to be quite populated which should be busy areas, and with the comment of Elizabeth being a high turnover i cant see a problem getting a position there

[Guest kangomik]

i imagine prime posting area means, not many stay there.

 

Your head must be spinning looking at all these places, you really need to step back and slow down mate, your like a tazzie devil spinning around.

You cannot get a feel for places on goggle, and your own pressure could cause you to make a bad choice.

 

A three bed home in Elizubuth could come at around $175K the same in Highbury would be $350k+ they would look the same on google earth or streetview, the difference would be the surrounding houses, the buth would probably all be the same price... Highbury you would get one or two for a mil +

 

If your going to jump in feet first, just picka place and go for it, afterall your taking advice off complete strangers here, would you do that in you own town?

[Leicesterlad]

Actually 'prime posting area' means most people want to go there, and you'll be bloody lucky if you get a job in the barossa. People who are there usually stay till they die or retire.

Lots of public servants who work there have been in their present jobs for decades. One woman I worked with has been living in Nurioopta and working at Modbury Heights for the last 15 years. She's finally won a job at Nuri High School.

[Guest kangomik]

sorry thought we where on about murray bridge LOL

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

i wouldnt buy first but rent i was hoping for a short term furnished for 2-3 months however there doesnt seem to be many and those available are really expensive.

i need to rent to get afeel for the area, dont worry i wont be comitting to anything whilst in the UK. |However i need to reduce the area i want to live so once there i have the 10 weeks to study and find somewhere to rent.

[Diane]

A site you might find useful is www.domain.com.au this is similar to realestate.com.au but allows you to put in a key word in your search - try selecting "rent" first, then click on South Australia, put a check in all the boxes in the top section (Adelaide, Hills, East, West, North and North East and South and South East - (there is also a box to check for Barossa but I'd stick to the central ones to start with) - then when you click on Continue, you get to a screen with the option to add a key word - put "furnished" in this box and you should get a good selection of properties available fully furnished, partly furnished and some red herrings that include "unfurnished" in their description!

 

Anyway, that rather long winded explanation was that this is a good way to find a furnished place for a few months for while you choose where you will be based, or get it chosen for you! Only word of warning is that sometimes this site is not kept quite as up to date as realestate, so obviously you'll need to contact relevant agents to check availablity.

 

First few months I'd base yourself as centrally as you can - when you know where you'll be posted start the search for something long term in earnest.

 

Good luck!

 

(This one for example looks pretty reasonable: http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=6379836)

[Guest Ant1382 and kerry]

thanks very much for that i really appriciate it, thats my ideal to have a furnished house then look and i wont have to rush to send my goods out there.