Community encouraged to support Bellbrook and Willawarrin by taking a day trip out west

While the entire Macleay Valley community have felt the impact of fires this summer, the upriver townships that were at the front line are also the communities struggling hardest in the aftermath.

A significant dip in tourism and the cost of recovery to locals have hit local businesses hard.

Publican of the Bellbrook Hotel, Shirley Smart, said it's not only the fires that have had a negative impact on businesses, but the state of the Macleay River.

"Trade this school holiday period has been down by a third from the previous year. It's been very quiet," Shirley said.

"While it's great to see water in the Macleay River again the water is still pretty filthy.

"Usually this time of year we get a lot of our trade from people camping up here but this year we haven't seen many campers at all, mainly due to the poor quality of the river."

Kempsey Shire Council have joined local business owners in urging residents of the shire to take a day, or a weekend, to become a tourist at home and take a trip upriver.

With the recent rain, the natural beauty of the upriver communities is on full display and Shirley said one big positive of the last month has been the amount of Macleay Valley locals going out of their way to support her business.

"We've had locals day trip up here and they have called into the pub for a drink or lunch," she said.

"People have made a point of coming up to me and saying, 'I've driven up here from Kempsey or South West Rocks because I want to support you'. For that, I'm really grateful."

These sentiments were echoed by publican of the Willawarrin Hotel, Gordon Anderson.

"We've had a few day trippers come in from the Macleay which has been good but overall business has been slow," he said.

"We saw a huge drop in the tourist trade this summer. However, I think it's more the fires than the river that has impacted this."

Kempsey Shire mayor Liz Campbell said council is encouraging residents to continue to support bushfire affected businesses.

"We know that our upriver communities were the hardest hit by the bushfires so I encourage our residents to assist in the recovery process by doing what they can to support them," Cr Campbell said.

"Why not consider a day trip to one of the pubs for lunch or if you have people visiting why not encourage them to take a drive. Every little bit helps."

Businesses can register for the 'Road Trip for Good' website which enables bushfire-affected communities to mark themselves as rural roadtrip stops.

For more information: https://www.roadtripforgood.org.au/locale/roadtrip-for-good/default

Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Macleay Argus newsletter here.