Praise for improved Civil Defence capabilities
1 July 2014
Taupo District Council has welcomed news that the Waikato's regional Civil Defence capability has improved markedly since it was last assessed.
A report released by Ministry of Civil Defence Emergency Management on Friday gave the Waikato CDEM Group a score of 71.3 out of 100 for its capabilities assessment, compared to a score of 44.7 in 2009. The ministry report covers all elements of the Waikato CDEM Group, which includes regional and local councils, the regional council-hosted group emergency management office, emergency services, welfare agencies and lifelines/utility providers.
The council's Emergency Management Committee chairperson Anna Park said the rating was a reflection of how hard staff and the council had worked and the regional partnership that had been formed.
Having sat on the Emergency Management Committee for the past four years, I have seen a shift at both a regional and local level and now as the chair I am really proud of the huge steps we have taken as a district, she said.
Mrs Park said the council's efforts were evident in the current implementation of emergency generators in the three main centres of the district. The governance and operations team of council work together really well and everyone involved in the last five years deserves as much credit for the outcome as each other.
Mrs Park said the report showed residents of the Taupo District and wider Waikato region could have confidence in their Civil Defence teams in the event of an emergency and that the Waikato CDEM Group had strong co-ordination and response plans in place.
The extra resources and measures that have helped the Waikato CDEM group lift its performance include the introduction of a highly skilled team of seven staff at the Hamilton-based group emergency management office. This has seen the appointment of a full-time group controller, a group recovery manager, a group welfare manager and various specialist staff.
Several regional and strategic plans covering public education, public information during disasters, evacuations, community response, and recovery from disaster have been developed.
Mrs Park said the community still needed to work on being prepared. One area of improvement for the Waikato is the buy-in at a community level, she said. We need to have better resilience and preparedness at the grassroots level of our community, in our homes and businesses.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lisa Nairne Communications Manager 07 376 0762 027 839 8410
Vicki Waterhouse Communications Advisor 07 376 0718 027 484 2549
Taupo District Council
