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Volume 13, Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Fright Night Callam, Kyliea, Brody, Fraja, Matilda and Alice dressed up for the Blue Light Halloween junior disco on Saturday night.
New roster a positive
B
HP Billiton Olympic Dam’s newly implemented seven days on/seven days off shift roster has had a largely positive effect on Roxby Downs since its introduction in August this year.
Local school numbers have risen since its implementation, and rental vacancies have dropped, possibly as a result of the new roster. BHP Billiton employee Ben Mummery has been living in Roxby Downs for five and a half years and was moved onto the seven/seven roster in August. Mr Mummery, who lives in Clare with his partner when not working, became a drive in, drive out worker prior to the new roster but said that it now suited him better for a myriad of reasons. “I’ve done just about every roster in town including five/four, before changing to seven/ seven,” he said. “Seven/seven suits me better because it’s less travel, less need to take leave and gives me more time to head back to Victoria (to visit other family) if I need to. “I haven’t heard of many people leaving town or many that are unhappy with seven/ seven.” Jess and Ashley Curtis live and are bringing up their young family in Roxby Downs, and have been happy with the new roster – saying it gives them more time to get jobs done around home. “It’s been quite positive for us,” Mrs Curtis
said. “What we found positive is that Ash has more time off in a solid block – we can just get more stuff done! “It’s also really good for our family life – we have shared care of my daughter and the four/ five roster really confused her. “With the seven/seven roster – she understands! She can be more organised and we don’t have to figure out rostered days on or off in advance. “It’s also easier for us to line up days off to go out of town, it definitely makes it easier to plan!” Aimee Lee Elson grew up in Roxby Downs for almost 20 years, but relocated her family to Port Neill on the West Coast almost five years ago, while her partner Ryan Selkirk continued to commute to Roxby Downs to work. Following the introduction of the new roster, Ms Elson said she and Mr Selkirk had discussed moving the family back to Roxby. “A block off for us goes relatively quick,” Ms Elson explained. “We are busy with the two eldest kids at school and with their after school sporting commitments. “We have talked about moving back to Roxby with Ryan now working a seven/seven roster just to give him a break from four years of commuting.” Roxby Downs Area School Principal Steve Bennett said student numbers had continued to grow in 2016 and will have increased to 620 students by the end of the year. He said many of the primary classes have
over 30 students in them which has begun to put pressure on students and staff. In term three, an extra teacher was appointed to work across the primary classes to relieve some of the work load on fellow staff members. “Some of the increase in student numbers this semester can be attributed to the seven/ seven roster,” Mr Bennett told The Monitor. “We are unsure; however, what impact the new roster will have on our student numbers for the start of next year. “It is certainly very difficult to finalise our staffing for 2017 based on the uncertainty of student numbers. “We are very reliant on accurate information from parents as they make the decision on where their children will be going to school in 2017.” Realtor Raine and Horne’s Sandy Sumsion said the housing market was in a similar position, with the real gauge of the seven/seven roster to come early next year following Christmas and the beginning of a new school year. Despite a drop in rental vacancies in Roxby Downs, from 190 to 130 since January 2016, Mrs Sumsion said families may well be waiting to move once the school year has finished to make things easier on their children. “There has been some movement but we won’t know the full impact until school has finished and the festive season is over,” she said.
“So that may not be until February or March.” She said the drop in rental prices may have been simply people moving from a company provided rental to one on the open property market, meaning there was no movement to the town, rather within it. Meanwhilem Olympic Dam employer BHP Billiton said they had been pleased with the almost site-wide roster transition. “We’re pleased that the transition to the new seven/seven roster for our teams has been a relatively smooth, but above all a safe exercise,” said BHP Billiton Lead Community Chad Menzies. “Everyone involved has done a great job in making the change as seamless as possible. “It’s also pleasing to hear of a number of new enrolments at our local schools, with many families choosing to make Roxby Downs their home.” Roxby Council Acting Administrator Geoff Whitbread said he was unaware of any significant changes within the town but had heard whispers suggesting things in Roxby Downs were on the rise. Mr Whitbread said increased patronage through the roxbylink Dunes Café and tight flight numbers had been the two most noteworthy signs since August that the seven/ seven roster had affected the town positively.