2016 Annual Report
Roma
The Roma CSG Development Story: Introduction
Referred to as ‘the gateway to the outback’, Roma is situated at the crossroads of two main transport routes and captures both recreational and commercial traffic heading east-west and north-south. Those interviewed portrayed Roma was a friendly town with a strong and stable economic base as a rural services centre.
What we did and why
The Roma CSG development story has been created to understand the impacts on Roma from coal seam gas (CSG) development. Our research has been done with the help of key members of the Roma and district community, including:
- Chamber of Commerce members
- Real estate agents
- Hotels, motels and other local business managers
- Police
- Staff from schools
- Employment agencies
- Local and State government staff.
These people were presented with statistical data on ‘indicators’ of social and economic impact. The ‘indicators’ are:
- Population
- Unemployment
- Income & Wages
- Business income
- Housing
- Selected offences recorded by police
- Rainfall
- Petrol prices
Working with our researchers, the people interviewed in Roma discussed the accuracy of the statistical data from a local perspective. That was done in research interviews. More information about the interviews is available here.
Through the interviews, a local perspective on the Roma CSG development story was created. From working with the Roma community, here is what we found.