Over the past three weeks, Community Emergency Hub Coordinator, Sarah Fountaine and Emergency Management Officer, Pete Sinclair have been meeting with community representatives, groups and interested members of the public to gather information on what resources hubs currently have, and what may be required for future resilience.

The next part of the project will be collating the assessments, working with an evaluation panel to identify and prioritise needs, obtain quotes and create asset management plans.

Another hugely positive outcome of the project has been the creation of 5 new, locally led Civil Defence groups to compliment those already existing in cyclone impacted areas.

Tararua District Council Emergency Management Officer Peter Sinclair says this is an excellent outcome for these rural communities, “as well as the knowledge that these communities will be able to sustain themselves for a period before help may be able to arrive, establishing strong connections in each of these communities will result in a more coordinated response in times of an emergency.”

Mr Sinclair also says, “these community led Civil Defence groups should not be limited to cyclone-impacted areas. Any Tararua community wanting support to set up a group please get in touch with us at Council.”