The vision of a former Gunnedah woman to see bronze koala statues erected in the shire may become a reality.
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The Rotary Club of Gunnedah has applied for $90,000 in state funding through My Community Project in the hope of bringing Tanya Bartlett's dream to life.
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Rotary president Murray O'Keefe said the statues would "celebrate" Gunnedah's reputation as the Koala Capital of the World and provide an interactive experience for visitors so they could take photos with them.
"Not only does it celebrate Gunnedah being the Koala Capital of the World, there's a real deep affinity with koalas in Gunnedah and the community really gets behind and supports it," Mr O'Keefe said.
"There's no shortage of people posing with the country music artists in Tamworth, so people could take photos with the koalas in Gunnedah and the villages so it would be something interesting for [the shire] to be remembered by."
Mrs Bartlett first unveiled her concept for the bronze statues in 2015 but a lack of funding meant the project didn't get off the ground.
In 2015, the sculptor told the NVI that she envisioned the statues as "life-sized and definitely realistic characters, not caricatures".
Mrs Bartlett is known for 'The Spark' in Armidale, Mary Poppins in Bowral, and Slim Dusty and Joy McKean in Tamworth.
Mr O'Keefe said he hoped locals would vote for the project so it might finally see the light.
"We'd really love the community to get on board and vote for our project and the most important thing is to share it around on social media to get the word out because it's a competitive process and we don't want to see all our state electorate's money go to another area," he said.
To vote for the koala statue project, visit the My Community Project website.