Chris Hart and his fiance Amber Selvage moved to Curlewis last Friday and had their first shifts this week.

Officer Selvage has taken up a position at the Gunnedah office and Officer Hart will be covering Curlewis.

The pair transferred from Dareton, NSW, after more than three years so they could be closer to their families who are based in Sydney.

Officer Hart said the majority of his shifts would be in Gunnedah because “they need the staffing numbers here”, however, he would be on-call in Curlewis at night and is the lock-up keeper for the Curlewis police station.

“If I have the opportunity to be there, I will open the station,” Officer Hart said.

Officer Hart said he and Officer Selvage had been in the force for seven years, starting out in the Sydney CBD. 

“We don’t want to go back to Sydney. We much prefer the country,” he said.

“There’s no real sense of community in the Sydney policing that we were doing.

“The things we do here have a greater effect in the community than in the city.

“You feel part of the community. You know the bloke that owns the post office, the bloke who runs the pub.”

Officer Hart said he really liked the town and thought it was a “nice spot”.

“People have definitely been very open and friendly,” he said.

Officer Selvage said Gunnedah offered a “nicer outlook” to Dareton but it was just as hot.

“Gunnedah seems like a pretty good town. It has everything you need,” she said.

“I much prefer country policing to city – being able to know members of the community and being able to build up that rapport.

“I always enjoy helping people. That’s obviously why I joined the job.”