Open Minutes
Commencing: Monday 4 September 2023, 10:30 am
Venue: Pou Tokomanawa Rua Meeting Room, Regional House, 1 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga
Chairperson: Mayor Tania Tapsell – Rotorua Lakes Council
Members: Mayor James Denyer – Western Bay of Plenty District Council (WBOPDC)
Mayor Faylene Tunui – Kawerau District Council (KDC)
In Attendance Staff: KDC: Russell George - Chair of Coordinating Executive Group & Chief Executive Officer
Emergency Management Bay of Plenty (EMBOP): Stace Tahere - Acting Planning Manager; Cara Gordon – Principal Advisor, Emergency Management; Lisa Glass – Senior Advisor, Communications; Theo Ursum – Advisor Planning; Bruce Rutherford – Advisor, Operations
Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC): Merinda Pansegrouw – Committee Advisor
Tauranga City Council (TCC): Daniel Pearce – Team Leader, Emergency Management
WBOPDC: Jo Lynskey, Senior Emergency Management Advisor
In Attendance
Submitters: Angela Wallace - Volunteering Services – SociaLink
Keith Hay - Katikati Waihi Beach Residents and Ratepayers Association
1. Opening Matters
Declaration of Public Recording
Members and Public were reminded that the meeting was being recorded and would be made available on the BOPRC website and archived for a period of three years:
Recording of Meeting: BOP CDEM Hearings Panel Group Plan 2023 2028 - 4 September 2023 - YouTube
Opening Karakia
Provided by Stace Tahere - Acting Planning Manager.
2. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
None advised.
Decisions Required
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Draft Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Plan 2023-28 - Hearings Report The Hearing Panel considered the pre-circulated report that provided information relating to the hearing and noted the requirement for the panel to appoint a Chairman for the hearing. The election of a Hearings Panel Chairperson was facilitated by Russell George - Chair of the Coordinating Executive Group/Chief Executive, Kawerau District Council. Nominated: Mayor Tania Tapsell By: Mayor Tunui/Mayor Denyer No further nominations were received. Mayor Tania Tapsell assumed the chair. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Hearings Panel: 1 Receives the report, Draft Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Plan 2023-28 - Hearings Report; and 2 Appoints Mayor Tania Tapsell as Chairperson of the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Hearings Panel. CARRIED |
Information Only
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Hearing of Submissions Hearing Panel Chair, Mayor Tania Tapsell welcomed submitters who were in attendance; provided introductions of the Hearing Panel members and gave a brief outline of the hearing procedure: Key Points: · The hearing would be heard in public and without unnecessary formality · Hearing Panel members may ask questions of clarification of submitters · Evidence presented at the hearing must relate strictly to the original written submission made and no person addressing the hearing may raise any matter that was new or outside the scope of their original written submission. |
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4.1 |
Angela Wallace – Volunteering Services – SociaLink Tabled Document 1 - Angela Wallace - Volunteering Services - SociaLink: Objective ID A4472509 |
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Angela Wallace, Manager for SociaLink Volunteering Services, Western Bay of Plenty, provided the following points in support of her submission: She was supported by Liz Stewart, SociaLink Policy, Research & Advocacy. Key Points: · Volunteering Services SociaLink supported, advocated and promoted Volunteering across the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga · Main role was to champion, grow and sustain volunteering across the Western Bay of Plenty · Mission was to strengthen community organisations/empower community sector, to provide vital advocacy services to connect communities and champion volunteering · Volunteering was a key stakeholder in Civil Defence Emergency Management and should be included in emergency planning and preparedness · The draft Group Plan highlighted the importance of both volunteers and communications · Volunteering Services SociaLink had a comprehensive database with volunteer management capabilities and would like to work directly with emergency response at the Group Emergency Coordination Centre (GECC) to coordinate volunteers in an emergency · Volunteering Services SociaLink had established relationships/networks and a comprehensive database · Database had capability to onboard volunteers/spontaneous volunteers, categorise according to skill, manage volunteers and match with opportunities, roster work shifts/connect with safety briefings/training modules · Had relationships with many not for profits and social service providers · Could assist with coordination of corporate volunteering/donations · Reminded that the recognition of volunteers was an important component · Volunteering Services SociaLink would like to see volunteers at the heart of the Group Plan, with more emphasis placed on Volunteering by means of the following: o Volunteering Services SociaLink being involved in writing Volunteer Management Plan o Volunteering Services SociaLink to enter into a MOU with BOPEM for Emergency Management - Volunteering Services SociaLink role & responsibilities defined & understood o Volunteering Services SociaLink to be involved in training exercises o Volunteering Services SociaLink to have a seat within GECC/EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) during an emergency o To be involved in debriefings/evaluations o Particularly in readiness and response phases · In summary emphasised that volunteering was a key stakeholder/vital in any emergency response Angela Wallace in response to Questions: · Volunteering Services SociaLink would work alongside community response teams by having a relationship; could assist with communications/welfare support/empower groups · Acknowledged that although this was a Group Plan for the wider Bay of Plenty; Volunteering Services SociaLink currently focussed on the Western Bay/Tauranga area; did have a long term vision to expand boundaries; furthermore the current database had the ability to add sub-groups · Was aware of possible privacy concerns with the database; new volunteers signing up were being made aware/given choices to select/deselect options. |
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Keith Hay - Chairman Katikati/Waihi Beach Residents and Ratepayers Association Tabled Document 2 - Keith Hay - Public submission PowerPoint Presentation: Objective ID A4472822 ⇨ |
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· Chairman of the Katikati/Waihi Beach Residents and Ratepayers Association · Retired Geologist · Bay of Plenty CDEM Group Plan Strategic Objectives included building community knowledge/ensuring they understood the hazards/risks, both the economic and social impact of a disaster/disruption so they could make informed decisions · However, the community still needed to understand more about the hazards/risks and what could be done to make Waihi Beach safer so that Civil Defence was less likely to be required in future · Both councils (WBOPDC and BOPRC) needed to be more pro-active in making buildings/infrastructure more resilient so there was less risk of civil emergencies · The following suggestions might appear to be common sense but they were not happening: o Resource Consents § Limits needed to be placed on the extent of impermeable surfaces around new-builds. Storm-water attenuation for 100 year events should be compulsory in all new developments § Council allowed developers to build walls that restricted overland flow paths and increase erosion and flood levels in adjoining properties § Refused to take action when receiving complaints § WBOPDC was ignoring advice from Regional Council on final floor levels o Flooding/Infrastructure requirements § Flooding of One Mile Creek could have been prevented if the sediment had not been allowed to build up in the dam and the penstock valve had been fully opened when WBOPDC was advised that heavy rain was expected § The storm-water detention ponds at the Karaka Pines Village needed to be emptied of all sediment and the breached dam repaired § This has still not been cleared three months after the flood § Was extremely important to have accurate information about the performance of the dam since it was critical to mitigating flooding in future § Was concerned that the dam was being blamed for the flooding downstream at One Mile Bridge whilst it was rather a case of the operation of the dam that was the problem § Stormwater infrastructure at Waihi Beach needed to be upgraded so that pipe capacities were sufficient for expected storm-water inflows o Communication/Tsunami maps § Was concerned that communications about rain warnings relating to the same event circulated by both EMBOP and WBOPDC on their respective Facebook pages, did not align § Tsunami evacuation maps for Waihi Beach on the website were obsolete/misleading; clear signage was required - evacuation sites needed to be sign-posted properly at every beach entrance. |
5. Next steps
Hearings Panel Chair, Mayor Tania Tapsell, thanked submitters for their participation and highlighted the next steps in the process as follows:
1. Hearings Panel to have Deliberations Meeting to develop a recommendations report to be submitted to the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee
2. The recommendations report would be available to the public at the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee meeting on 29 September 2023 (Venue: WBOPDC Council Chambers. Recording of the proceedings would be available after the meeting on the BOPRC YouTube channel.)
6. Public Excluded Section
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Resolution to exclude the public 1 Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting as set out below: The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:
CARRIED |
11:10 am – the hearing closed.
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