Minutes of a meeting of the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management Group
Held in the Council Chamber, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
On Wednesday 20 September 2017, commencing at 1.30pm
Present: Her Worship the Mayor of Nelson R Reese, Nelson City Councillor P Matheson, His Worship the Mayor of Tasman R Kempthorne and Tasman District Councillor T King
In Attendance: Emergency Management Officer (R Ball), Emergency Management Team Leader (B Marsay), Policy Advisor (G Thorpe), Acting Chief Executive, Nelson City Council (D Hammond)
Nil.
3. Draft Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Plan 2017-2022 - Late submission
Document number R8388, agenda pages 3 - 11 refer.
4. Hearing of submissions to the Draft Civil Defence and Emergency Group Plan 2017-2022
Document number R8373, agenda pages 12 - 76 refer.
Mr Gavin O’Donnell spoke to his submission on behalf of the Fair Hill Trust. He thanked members for the opportunity to address the Committee.
Mr O’Donnell summarised what he said were the key points of his submission. He said that the current plan strongly promoted personal preparedness and business continuity planning for urban areas, but that this advice was lacking when it came to the rural sector and rural residents. He felt that there was no pastoral industry representation and that this information needed to be clearly communicated in the plan.
The Committee asked Mr O’Donnell for his thoughts on the effectiveness of his proposal in enabling the outcomes sought by rural communities. Mr O’Donnell said he felt the model he had proposed provided a clear method of information exchange between the top and bottom levels of management and recovery during an emergency event.
In response to a question, Mr O’Donnell said that he envisioned Civil Defence Emergency Management’s (CDEM) role as promoting individual preparedness. He said that the plan needs to allow for that preparedness within communities, in particular enabling them to gather and maintain the necessary supplies and that the Plan should not hinder that process. Councillors agreed on the importance of making people aware of their individual and community responsibilities and of communicating clearly what can reasonably be expected from CDEM.
Councillors discussed whether there was sufficient understanding of the impact of disaster events to the rural sector. They talked about services that could be affected and acknowledged the value of having local knowledge and services assisting with disaster response and recovery.
Chairperson Mayor R Reese thanked Mr O’Donnell for his time and he left the meeting.
Mayor Reese welcomed Emergency Management Officer, Roger Ball to the table to speak to the balance of submissions received and the next steps of the consultation process. Mr Ball confirmed that CDEM were in a position to consider all of the submissions received in relation to the Plan and report back to the Committee for deliberation on 2 October 2017. He noted that some submitters were expecting a level of detail that would not normally go in to the Plan, but advised Councillors that submitters would be directed to where this information could be found.
Mayor Reese requested that the population figures for Nelson / Tasman be updated within the draft Plan.
There being no further business the meeting ended at 2.10pm.
Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings at the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group meeting on 2 October 2017
3. Civil Defence Emergency Management Group - 20 September 2017
Document number R8484, agenda pages 4 - 6 refer.
Moved Mayor Kempthorne / Cr King
That the Committee
Receives the minutes of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Joint Committee held on 20 September 2017 and confirms these as a true and correct record of the meeting.
CARRIED