There is calm among the families of CSA Mine workers who were assured their jobs weren’t under threat, after fears were raised during an information session at the Cobar Golf Club last week.

Worried families, fearful their partners could be affected like Endeavor Mine by the latest downturn in world commodity prices, voiced their concerns at a seminar designed to survey families about the standard of local community services.

CMPL human resources advisor Sue Ham moved to assure families that job cuts were not on the cards for workers at Cobar’s CSA Mine.

Ms Ham said families had responded to rumours similar cuts, like the 151 workers retrenched from Endeavor Mine only weeks ago, were imminent across all sections of the mining community.

“There is a great deal of concern out there,” Ms Ham said.

“People are genuinely concerned about what’s going to happen next … CMPL has no plans to cut staff.”

Despite the surprising number of concerns about job security last week’s seminars yielded a wide net of trouble spots for families living in Cobar.

Budget-conscious families found buying children’s clothing among the hardest things to do in Cobar.

Meanwhile, pregnant women said they shopped out of town to access medical specialists and because there was more variety abroad. One of the biggest concerns raised at the seminar was the lack of full-time local paediatrician, followed by the town’s ability to cope with a disaster.

“Families want to know the town can cope with an emergency situation,” Ms Ham said.

“Mothers do not want to travel out of town to access paediatric and obstetric services.”

The seminar also showed limited places meant many families weren’t able to enrol their children at preschool. Families said they wanted more places made available and a structured learning environment across all levels of early education.

A community bus service was high on list, but one of the most striking issues raised was the level of isolation new families have felt when they have moved to Cobar.

“We are far away from anywhere so we can’t help but be geographically isolated,’’ Ms Ham said. “But people shouldn’t have to feel isolated to their homes so we are looking at ways we can help connect people when they move to town,” Ms Ham said. A mail-out to 110 families is underway as the next step to CMPL’s community service study. The next step in the study is to try and identify solutions which will help the town and the mine both keep their retention figures high.