Long Term Community Plan 2012-2022 - Hurunui District Council

Activity 1: Emergency Services
Hurunui Community Long Term Plan 2012 - 2022
Overview
The Emergency Services activity includes the Council’s:
• Civil Defence
• Rural Fire
Current Situation
Civil Defence
In the Hurunui District, there are now nine Sector Posts
(Cheviot, Culverden, Hawarden, Waiau, Mt Lyford, Hanmer
Springs, Motunau Beach, Glenmark and Amberley), and a District
Headquarters at Amberley Office. Over 70 local volunteers from
diverse backgrounds are involved in these centres. Volunteers
are generally local people who receive training so they know
what to do should a disaster or emergency situation arise.
To strengthen our ability to manage in a disaster, key
relationships have been established with our neighbouring
District Councils (Waimakariri and Kaikoura), and those within
the greater Canterbury Region, as well as the Ministry of Civil
Defence Emergency Management (MCDEM), critical emergency
service partners and support agencies from both Government
and non-Government organisations (such as Red Cross, St
Johns Ambulance, Ministry of Social Development, Canterbury
District Health Board).
The Hurunui District has 106 kilometres of coastline. With
heightened public awareness about the risk of tsunamis
worldwide, a locally activated warning system is in place
at Amberley Beach and Leithfield Beach. No other beach
Rural Fire
We maintain a District Fire Plan which prescribes how we will
meet our fire management responsibilities. Our Emergency
Management Officer is appointed as the Principal Rural Fire
Officer who manages rural fire on behalf of the Council. We
have five Volunteer Rural Fire Force parties in the District
based in Waikari, Waiau, Conway Flat, Motunau Beach and Greta
Valley. Collectively these fire parties provide approximately
80 volunteers including 10 Rural Fire Officers and a Deputy
Principal Rural Fire Officer. Each rural fire party has a minimum
of one fire tanker and a portable pump. We provide tankers
to the New Zealand Fire Service brigades located in Amberley,
Waipara, Hanmer Springs and Cheviot. We are responsible for
providing the public with information and warnings regarding fire
hazard conditions. This includes placing fire bans during periods
of extreme fire risk, and bylaws to carry out fire prevention and
control measures.
Plans for the future
Civil Defence
Severe flooding in 2008 caused widespread damage within
the Hurunui District and tested our civil defence capabilities.
This confirmed that further Sector Posts and more volunteers
within the District would be beneficial. We intend to continue
increasing our capacity to deal more effectively with a civil
defence emergency when the time arrives. Subject to voluntary
community participation, we will seek to establish additional
Sector Posts in Leithfield, Waipara, Motunau Beach, Scargill-
Omihi area, Gore Bay, Conway Flat, Rotherham, and Waikari.
Funding has been available to fully automate the warning systems
at Amberley Beach and Leithfield Beach so that they do not
need to be manually activated.
We will continue to maintain an organisational structure of
suitably trained and competent people, including volunteers,
to manage civil defence emergencies. Recruitment drives for
civil defence volunteers are essential to maintain the numbers
of personnel needed in a civil defence emergency. Training is
delivered locally by our Emergency Management Officer and
regionally through the Canterbury CDEM Group for staff and
community volunteers.
Rural Fire
General upgrading of all rural fire equipment and depots will
continue to ensure that all Volunteer Rural Fire Force parties
have the physical resources needed to fight fires. Investment in
regional fire retardant depots will enhance our fire response
capability. Investment in national research projects will educate
people in the District on passive measures to help reduce the
incidence of wild fires.
Volunteers are crucial to this activity and recruitment drives
must be on-going to sustain required numbers for each
Volunteer Rural Fire Force established in our district. Numbers
of volunteers have been dwindling over the past years which is
of real concern. Full training is provided to volunteers to ensure
they are able to carry out their duties safely.
We will continue to promote, encourage and carry out
appropriate fire prevention and control measures in the
interests of public safety. This includes maintaining a written
Fire Plan, observing and assessing fire weather conditions and
other fire hazard conditions, and removing or reducing hazards
which may trigger unwanted vegetation wild fires.
Also being considered is a wider fire fighting agency to cover
the Canterbury region. This is in its early considerations with
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