Esk Valley on 20 February 2023 after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro
- The Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (HBCDEM) Group Joint Committee have voted to adopt and endorse a "Transformation Strategy" at a meeting in Wairoa on Monday.
- The move comes in response to reviews that found Hawke's Bay Civil Defence was not prepared for Cyclone Gabrielle and failed to keep residents safe.
- Eight people died in Hawkes Bay during the cyclone in 2023, and hundreds were rescued from rooftops.
- The plan is for a three-year overhaul of the region's emergency management system and is focused on building trust and enhancing collaboration across the region.
- Several scathing reviews revealed shortfalls in the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, Hawke's Bay Civil Defence, and in the nationwide emergency management system.
Hawkes Bay's emergency management system will be overhauled as part of a new strategy that's been voted on by the region's councils.
Civil Defence Transformation Director Matt Boggs told councils and iwi that with 95 percent of people living where the hazards are, the whole region must be involved in these changes.
"I can't stress enough that our system needs both a local system and a regional system, and in the last 5 to 10 years our region has re-organised from a local system to a regional system and mixtures of in between, I'm suggesting to you that we must in this region have both," he said.
The (HBCDEM) strategy focuses on seven key areas: Māori partnership, Connecting with the community, infrastructure and assets, training and assurance, planning and service level agreements.
"The success of the HBCDEM Transformation Strategy lies in driving systemic change," the document reads.
Transformation roadmap
The plan lays out rough timeframes for some of the biggest changes:
- Mana whenua are to be formally included in all levels of regional and local emergency management and governance.
- By 2027 the volunteer workforce will increase from 149 trained volunteers to 700, while the professional workforce will be boosted by 45 percent.
- In 2025, all HBCDEM infrastructure and assets will be reviewed and business cases submitted to the government for investment consultation.
- Ten local emergency management exercises will take place across the region in 2025, plus a major combined exercise including community, councils and emergency services.
- By 2027 Hawke's Bay will have up-to-date and modern local, and regional hazard and reduction emergency management plans.
- Service-level agreements will be drafted to clarify the roles and responsibilities of each local and regional council. These will be formalised in 2027.
Bogg said they've already engaged with a contractor to deliver the formal credited training, a key recommendation of the government review.
"That's an important message to send to our community - the formal training of 240 staff this year, next year and the following year... aside from the 500 to 700 people trained by our civil defence group annually.
"That formal training turns our volunteer system into one that's professionalised," he said.
The meeting also heard from Ngāti Kahungunu chair, Bayden Barber, who welcomed the formal inclusion of mana whenua in civil defence and asked that the region's marae be marked out on the strategic maps.
Officials speak to media after the release an independent review into Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Cyclone Gabrielle response. From left Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise, Mana Ahuriri representative Leon Symes, Hawke's Bay Regional Council chair Hinewai Ormsby, Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker, Ngāti Kahungunu chair Bayden Barber and Wairoa Mayor Craig Little. Photo: RNZ / Anusha Bradley
"There are 100 marae in Ngāti Kahungunu... when we are thinking about this whole system - the Māori community and its contribution to civil defence - we can bolster it with some of the stuff our people bring to the table.
"I like the korero that we will be formally included, but I think this plan can be strengthened by including clusters of marae," he said.
All three reviews of the the Cyclone Gabrielle response identified a need for emergency responses to be more inclusive, and recognise that marae are vital providers of community intelligence and services.
The HBCDEM Transformation Strategy will be rolled out in three phases over the next three years and comes amidst legislative changes to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
NEMA and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet are still clarifying the scope, timing and funding requirements to deliver the planned overhaul.
An announcement outlining a public roadmap for the promised changes is expected early this year.
"The government inquiry has been woven into this... it's still at quite a high level, but there are themes around an assurance that we will find ourselves probably leading the country in this," said Boggs.
NEMA chief executive David Gawn backed the region's new strategy at the Wairoa meeting.
"It's very aligned with the findings and direction that the central government is taking as well. I applaud Hawke's Bay in terms of the lead you are taking on this, Auckland went through a similar process last year," he said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
