North Canterbury News: May 27, 2021

NEWS
The North Canterbury News, May 27, 2021
3
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Wanting change ... Emergency services personnel are becoming increasingly confused and alarmed at delays in getting to urgent
incidents because of wrong, or non existent Rural Rapid numbers on gateways in the Hurunui District. From left are firefighter Bradley
Price, Chief Fire Officer Craig Ritchie, Constable Damian Schuurman, St John medic Jo Smith, Constable William Flapper, St John medic
Jackie Olorenshaw, and mailman Mark Hutchinson­Lowden.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
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Rapidly growing confusion
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Liveswill be lost if the Rural
Address Property
Identification (RAPID)
numbering systeminrural
Hurunui isn’toverhauled,
Culverdenfire chief Craig
Ritchie says.
He says the numbering
system in the Amuri basin and
beyond has becomeconfusing,
due in part to large dairy farms
with multiplehomesonthem
beingestablished, as well as
the influences of subdivision
and populationgrowth.
He says in recentweeks a
paramedic,and Fireand
EmergencyNew Zealand, have
wasted valuable time trying to
find properties because the
RAPIDnumberonthe national
databasedoes not correspond
to the location of the property.
New policeand St John
personnel, and anew mailman,
none of whom have years of
localknowledge, are being
caught out by the muddled
system. Numbers hidden
behind overgrown hedges and
trees, and on clusters of
mailboxes on the oppositeside
of the road to the address, are
adding to the chaos.
Mr Ritchie says St John
recently had acallout to asixmonth­old
with breathing
difficulties.
Ahelicopter was on its way
fromChristchurch while St
John, with anew paramedic at
the wheel,tried to find the
address. St John endedupina
paddock. The communication
centre had to ring the house
occupantsand ask them to go
out and find thecrew.
Anew mailman is taking all
day to deliver mail because of
the faultysystem,while even
long­serving volunteer
firefighters with local
knowledge are strugglingat
times to find addresses,Mr
Ritchie says. This is especially
the case where thereare five
or so housesonadriveway,and
the RAPID number is on the
gatewhere visitors turn in to
access the homes.
On the Inland Roadbetween
Kaikoura and Waiau, RAPID
numberingstarts fromeach
end,confusing everyone,
particularlywhenthey meet in
the middle.
Poorsignal coveragefor GPS
devices and cellphones in
manyareasofthe Hurunui
compound the problem.
Mr Ritchie says the systemis
based on the distancetoa
property entrance froma
clearly defined reference
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point,usuallythe beginning of
the roadonwhich it is located.
RAPID numbers are
allocated by the localcouncil,
and this information is then
sent to Land InformationNew
Zealand (LINZ)for inclusion in
the Landonline national
property database.Emergency
Services, including Fire and
EmergencyNew Zealand, have
access to thisinformationto
enable afaster response to
incidents at rural properties.
Mr Ritchie, who has been
campaigning to get
improvementsfor several
years, has visited every rural
property in his areaoutlining
the problem.Hewouldlike to
see an independent contractor
giventhe task of fixingthe
problem, by completely
overhaulingthe systemwith an
identical number template,
and the correct number, fixed
to agate, or post.
‘‘It has to be functional for
emergencies, andfit for
purpose,’’ he says.
He acknowledges that the
Hurunui has many kilometres
of roads and it is not easyfor
the council to provide the
services for itssmall ratepayer
base.
‘‘It shouldnot be acouncil
expense,and should not be
Blakeleys
of Kaiapoi
lookedatthat way,’’ he says. He
believes most ratepayers
would be happy to pay aone­off
cost for aRAPID number.
Hurunui Mayor MarieBlack,
whoused to travel the district
in her rolewith Plunket, says
theissueisimportant. Shesays
it is critical that numbers are
correct and clearly displayed.
Shecongratulated Mr
Ritchie on his commitment to
getthe problem fixed, and
accepted that auniformdesign
of numbers, and startingagain,
would be the ideal. However, a
small council like Hurunuiwas
hamstrung by cost and
resourcing.
The strategyand policy
committee of councilwill
discussthe RAPID numbering
system on June 10. The council
had earlier agreed to lookat
the system on anon­regulatory
basis, through education.
There were many anomalies
to fix, including pointing out
that aFonterra, or other milk
supplier number, was not
acceptable, and puttingthe
number on amailbox in a
clusteronthe opposite side of
the road was also not helpfulto
emergency services tryingto
find aproperty in the middle of
the nightinanunlit and
unfamiliar ruralarea.
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