It could be reasonably argued that in regional areas the local football club is a barometer of the community's strength.Now it would be only 20 per cent, long-time resident Maurice Jordan believes. "A lot of the people who've moved here wouldn't know the team's colours," Mr Jordan, 57, says. But at least Bracknell still has a football team. Mr Jordan runs a log haulage company, one of two in Bracknell, even though the five sawmills that once operated in the region and were the largest employers, have closed. The two haulage contractors are the largest employers in the town. Most people work in Launceston, the abattoir in Longford or poppy processor, Tasmanian Alkaloids in Westbury. One of 11 children, Mr Jordan moved with his family to Bracknell in 1964. He attended Bracknell Area School, which at that time enrolled pupils from grade one to grade nine. His father who worked for the then Forestry Commission, also ran a 180ha farm on "tough country". With the other children, Mr Jordan was expected to help with the farm chores. "I milked cows by hand before school," he said. Bracknell was a busy community which made its own entertainment. One of the highlights was the Bracknell School Agricultural Show, a feast of chopping, agricultural and animal events run by the school. When the school downgraded to a primary school its role as the focus of the community declined Mr Jordan says. Sport has always been a strong force in the community which fielded several football and cricket teams. At one time there were 11 teams in the regional cricket association which extended from Ross to Hagley. Farming is still the mainstay of the local economy but farms are bigger now and provide few job opportunities to keep young people in the region. "Once every farmer grew his own food. No one does that now. Now the farms grow for the big companies and most people go to the supermarket for food," he said. Changes that would benefit community growth have been slow in coming. "We have no sewerage system only septic tanks. Sewerage was promised in 1985 but we're still waiting and it's further away now than ever," he said. "There are a lot of empty building blocks in Bracknell. The council won't allow them to build because they can not get a septic tank licence." He said the Bracknell Residents Action Group was formed to lobby the Meander Valley Council for action on the issue. "Since amalgamation we are right on the edge of Northern Midlands but we're in Meander Valley Municipality - they forget we're here," he said. Bracknell is not a community about to lie down and die.