As previously advised, a government-run Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) distribution hub was recently established in Park 22. Yesterday, SAUCNA Board members met with site management to discuss the resumption of our season from next Tuesday 1st February. There is some good news.
There are plans to roughly halve the RAT site footprint from later this week. The attached map shows the proposed amended footprint, with the area bounded in red what is going to be available for SAUCNA. But, there are some key requirements that everyone needs to adhere to in order for this to work. Please reinforce this with all club members, as we need to be respectful of the RAT operations in what will become a shared space.
- Entry to Park 22 (the “red zone”) is via Anzac Highway only. There is NO ENTRY from Goodwood Road.
- Exit from Park 22 is via both Anzac Highway and Goodwood Road. However, if exiting at Goodwood Road it is strictly left turn only. There will likely be witches’ hats in place to prevent right turns anyway.
- Given Anzac Highway is both an entry and an exit, please exercise a greater degree of care when entering/exiting, and share the road space.
- There is no entry or exit from/to Greenhill Road. This is reserved for RAT customers to enter Park 22.
- When capacity in the Park 22 red zone is reached, the overflow area is Park 23 (western side of Anzac Highway). Please note that this has one entry only (southern end of Park 23) and one exit only (northern end). If using this space, please exercise extreme caution crossing Anzac Highway, and it is highly recommended that families with children in particular only cross at the pedestrian crossing. In fact, it’s good advice for adults too.
- RAT site operations will end at 9 p.m. daily. For those attending the late game this should make ingress/egress a little easier.
- The site managers intend to install some temporary fencing and possibly bunting to make it clear what is available for parking in the red zone and what is out of bounds (i.e. the RAT site). Please observe these boundaries.
- A critical message to pass onto families is that people attending the RAT site are doing so because they are close contacts of a COVID positive case. It is therefore vital that SAUCNA attendees do not enter the RAT site for any reason. Cross-contamination of close contacts with SAUCNA families risks the continuation of the season.
- A small number of parking spaces are reserved behind the clubrooms for the mobility impaired and some key officials.
- The RAT site managers intend to have some traffic controllers on site up until 9 p.m. each night to monitor and assist with parking control. As with our COVID Marshalls, they are performing an important role which benefits the community, so please follow their instructions even if you don’t agree with them.
The Board has decided to keep the four rendezvous points in the same location as everyone is used to.
Two additional key points to be aware of:
- While the RAT site is reducing in size at this stage, it is scalable and could resume full operations with very little notice. If that was required (e.g. a COVID outbreak) then SAUCNA’s access to the red zone parking would not continue.
- The Board encourages families to allow extra time to arrive, park, and depart. We ask for your increased patience to navigate the remainder of the season, and thank you for the patience and cooperation you have demonstrated to date. It’s only through this that we can continue to run our competitions and retain some semblance of normality.
Beyond car parking, the season’s resumption is a good opportunity to remind everyone of existing COVID protocols. Our approved COVID Management Plan is unchanged. However, on 27/12/21 there were changes to density requirements and other clauses of the Activities (Associated Direction No. 17) which are relevant to SAUCNA. Please be aware that:
- The density requirement for outdoor activities is 1 person per 2 square metres; and
- Our COVID Management Plan still requires a limit of 1 spectator per player. However, those undertaking an official role (e.g. coach, team manager, primary carer/First Aid, scorer etc.) are not counted as spectators. This means that if you are scoring one week, for example, you could have both parents attend for that week only.
- Our COVID Marshals will continue to be available to assist with any questions you might have, and to ensure that all attendees have checked in via the approved QR code. It is still a requirement to submit the manual contact tracing form with the scorecard each week.
If anyone has any questions, please let the Board know ASAP. Once again, we thank you for your cooperation and goodwill which enables us to maintain a thriving competition. It’s getting towards the pointy end of the season, so best of luck to all teams for the remaining minor round matches, and for those playing in the finals.
Sparkling Diamonds Netball Club 