North Canterbury News: June 15, 2023
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YES programme<br />
By DAVID HILL,<br />
Local Democracy Reporter<br />
Recruiting young people into<br />
emergency services is back on the<br />
agendafor two <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong><br />
councils.<br />
The Hurunui District Council is<br />
bringing back its Youth in Emergency<br />
Services camp in July, while the<br />
WaimakaririDistrict Council is<br />
looking to replace its successful cadet<br />
programmewith aYouth in<br />
EmergencyManagement course.<br />
Youth in Emergency Services (YES)<br />
was anationalprogramme to introduce<br />
young people to volunteering in<br />
emergency services, until funding ran<br />
out five yearsago.<br />
The programmeisbeing reintroducedinthe<br />
Hurunui district<br />
thankstothe efforts of the Hurunui<br />
Youth Council<br />
‘‘I was informed about the YES camp<br />
concept last yearwhen Itook the lead<br />
on the emergency services portfolio,’’<br />
youth council deputychairperson and<br />
Amuri Area School year 13 student<br />
Sam Bush says.<br />
‘‘I decided it was something worth<br />
looking into and,through our youth<br />
council processes, it was voted on to<br />
proceed and planning began.’’<br />
The youth council has joined forces<br />
with Police, CivilDefence, Fire and<br />
EmergencyNew Zealand, Land Search<br />
and Rescue (LandSAR), St John and<br />
the Red Cross.<br />
Funding has come fromthe Ministry<br />
of Youth Development, the Rāta<br />
Foundation and CivilDefence<br />
EmergencyManagement (CDEM).<br />
The YES camp will run during the<br />
July school holidays, from July 10 to 14,<br />
at the Hanmer Forest Residential<br />
Camp and is open to young peopleaged<br />
16 to 19years.<br />
‘‘The camp is agood pathwayfor<br />
youth who are interestedinbecoming<br />
avolunteer or are looking at one of the<br />
emergencyservices as their future<br />
career,’’ Sam says.<br />
‘‘It will providethem with an<br />
opportunity to experiencesome of<br />
what is involved with these<br />
organisations.’’<br />
After running the YES programme<br />
for several years in collaboration with<br />
the Hurunui and Selwyn District<br />
Councils, the WaimakaririDistrict<br />
Council’s CDEM teamdeveloped its<br />
own cadet programme.<br />
But the programmebecame difficult<br />
to sustain during Covid19,<br />
WaimakaririMayorDan Gordon says.<br />
‘‘It was an initiative that we were<br />
very proud to have developed,<br />
however, the past coupleofyears have<br />
provided adifficult environment in<br />
which to operate the programme.’’<br />
Council staff reviewed it last year,<br />
and decidedthey could not continue it<br />
in its present form.<br />
‘‘After engaging with the cadets,<br />
their families and key staff, it was<br />
decided the best optionwould be to<br />
replace the CDEMcadetprogramme<br />
with asustainable longterm<br />
programme for Youth in Emergency<br />
Management,’’ Mr Gordon says.<br />
The new initiative will run for eight<br />
weeks, instead of for the school year,<br />
with the potentialtooffer it up to four<br />
times ayear. The focuswill be on Civil<br />
Defencetraining.<br />
To applyfor the Hurunui District<br />
Council’s YES Camp, go to hurunui.<br />
govt.nz/yescamp<strong>2023</strong>.<br />
Public interest journalismfunded<br />
throughNew Zealand on Air.<br />
IAMFEELING deflated and<br />
disappointed by thelackofGovernment<br />
foresight andinvestmentinflood<br />
protectionfor ourregion.<br />
As theregionalcouncil in NewZealand’s<br />
largest region,itfeels like we are<br />
beingneglectedwhen it comestofuture-proofing<br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong>.Iknowothers<br />
feel thesame.<br />
That’snot to saysupportisn’t needed<br />
forareas badlyimpactedbyCyclone<br />
Gabrielle–wereceivedconsiderable<br />
supportduring theearthquakerecovery,<br />
so we know theresponseupnorth is<br />
critical –however,tonot invest in protection<br />
of otherat-riskareas in Waitaha is<br />
short-sighted.<br />
Floodingisthe number onenatural<br />
disaster in NewZealandand,withthe<br />
impactsofclimatechange becoming<br />
more significantand frequent,weare at<br />
risk here in <strong>Canterbury</strong>.<br />
Alongwithother regional councils,<br />
Environment<strong>Canterbury</strong>made ajoint<br />
submissiontothe Government askingfor<br />
co-investment in amajor flood protection<br />
programme. Ourproposal wasfor<br />
central andlocal governmentstoco-invest<br />
$257 millionoverthe next three<br />
years,tofund92urgentfloodprotection<br />
projectsacrossAotearoa.<br />
NEWS<br />
The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>June</strong> <strong>15</strong>, <strong>2023</strong><br />
Surprise overGovernment<br />
decision not tofund flood<br />
prevention plan<br />
Environment<br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> Chair<br />
Peter Scott<br />
9<br />
We have been askingcentral<br />
Government to co-invest with us in<br />
flood preventionmeasuresand river<br />
management since 1989, however it<br />
has been ratepayers acrossthe country<br />
footingthe bill.<br />
The recentdevastation of Cyclone<br />
Gabriellecould happen anywhere in the<br />
SouthIsland, andweshouldn’t wait for<br />
that to happen before taking action.Preventionisstill<br />
better than acure.<br />
We thoughtwehad astrongcasefor<br />
fundinginthe <strong>2023</strong> Budget, especially<br />
givenwhat’satriskifthere is significant<br />
floodingalong our78,000 kilometres<br />
of riversystems.That includes national<br />
assets such as Waka KotahiNZTransport<br />
Agency roads, KiwiRailbridgesthatrun<br />
near rivers,power andinternetinfrastructure–whichwould<br />
all be impacted,<br />
anddisrupt oursupply chains in the<br />
eventofanother majorfloodevent.<br />
And that doesn’t factorinour ongoing<br />
abilitytolive in some areas, or people’s<br />
abilitytoget insuranceorhow events<br />
might impact on premiums –asad<br />
realitythatsomefamilies in thebadly<br />
affected areasinthe <strong>North</strong>Islandare<br />
grapplingwith.<br />
Iamhoping this decisionbythe<br />
Government isn’tfinal. Iwill be working<br />
over thecomingdaysand weekswith my<br />
regional colleagues around thecountry<br />
to make sure ourconcerns areheard in<br />
Wellington.<br />
WORLD ELDER ABUSE<br />
AWARENESS DAY<br />
<strong>15</strong> JUNE #WEAAD<br />
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concerned about<br />
how someone is<br />
being treated,<br />
it’s OK to help<br />
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