Open Minutes
Commencing: Friday 5 April 2024, 10:00am
Venue: Council Chambers, Regional House, 1 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga and via Zoom (Audio Visual Meeting)
Chairperson: Mayor Faylene Tunui - – Kawerau District Council (KDC)
Deputy Chairperson: Mayor James Denyer - Western Bay of Plenty District Council (WBOPDC)
Members: Ōpōtiki District Council (ODC):
Mayor David Moore (via Zoom)
Tauranga City Council (TCC):
Commission Chair Anne Tolley
Whakatāne District Council (WDC):
Mayor Victor Luca
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana (BOPRC):
Cr Malcolm Campbell, Cr Ron Scott (Alternate)
Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC):
Deputy Mayor Sandra Kai Fong (Alternate) (via Zoom)
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA):
Observer Lily Foulds, Regional Emergency Management Advisor
In Attendance: By Invitation: Hon Mark Mitchell, Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery; David Gawn, Chief Executive Officer, National Emergency Management Agency; Prof Tom Wilson, Chief Science Advisor, National Emergency Management Agency (Via Zoom); Nico Fournier – Volcanologist, Te Pū Ao - GNS Science (Via Zoom); Sandra James – Connecting People Limited
Emergency Management Bay of Plenty (EMBOP): Clinton Naude – Director; Mark Crowe – Manager, Operations; Stace Tahere – Manager, Planning; Cara Gordon – Principal Advisor, Emergency Management; Lisa Glass – Team Leader, Communications and Engagement; Theo Ursum – Advisor, Planning; Julian Reweti – Principal Advisor, Recovery; Jason Wharewera – Advisor, Operations; Rob McLean – Advisor, Operations; Kieran Miller – Senior Advisor, Planning; Bruce Rutherford – Advisor, Operations; Andrea Thompson – Executive Assistant
Tauranga City Council (TCC): Marty Grenfell, Deputy Chair of Coordinating Executive Group (CEG) and Chief Executive
BOPRC: Chairman Doug Leeder; Reuben Fraser – General Manager, Regulatory Services; Merinda Pansegrouw – Committee Advisor
WDC: Mike Avery, Local CDEM Controller
RLC: Bruce Horne – Lead for Emergency Capability and Resilience
KDC: Lee Barton – Manager Economic & Community Development (via Zoom).
Declaration of Public Recording
Committee members were reminded that the meeting was being recorded and that the recording would be made available on the BOPRC website and archived for a period of three years:
Recording of Meeting: Civil Defence Emergency Management - Joint Committee Meeting - 5 April 2024 (youtube.com)
Opening Karakia
Provided by the Stace Tahere – Manager, Planning.
Members acknowledged the passing of Cr Richard Crawford, WBOPDC Councillor representing the Maketū-Te Puke Ward, former Te Puke Community Board Chair and former Te Puke firefighter, who would be remembered for his community spirit and service.
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Accepts the apologies from Mayor Tania Tapsell and Deputy Mayor Lesley Immink (Alternate), and for early departure, Mayor James Denyer and Commission Chair Anne Tolley. CARRIED |
With the agreement of members, the order of business was amended as follows:
· Item 6.1, “Confirmation of minutes”, was considered after conclusion of item 7.12.
· Item 7.8 “Bay of Plenty CDEM Group Plan 2024-2029 – Adoption of Group Plan” was considered after item 7.2.
3. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
None.
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Address by the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, Hon Mark Mitchell Introduced by: Chair, Mayor Faylene Tunui and presented by Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, Hon Mark Mitchell. Key Points – Hon Mark Mitchell: · General observations regarding emergency management/recovery matters as incoming Minister · Important to receive feedback from regional leaders in terms of how New Zealand needed to prepare moving forward regarding emergency management capability at a national/regional/local level · Referred to the recently released Independent Review Report undertaken by Mike Bush (Bush International Consulting Limited) into the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle. Report had identified numerous local and regional key lessons · Government Inquiry into the response to the 2023 North Island Severe Weather Events (including Cyclone Gabrielle) headed by former Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae to be released 23 April 2023 · Government had decided not to proceed with the existing Emergency Management Bill (to be withdrawn from Select Committee). Intended to introduce a new substantive Bill this term, alongside considering system improvements using existing mechanisms in the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 and non-legislative levers · Highlighted the need for developing a common operating platform/system (i.e. a comprehensive communications system) · Possible substantive changes to be included in the new Emergency Management Bill may inter alia include clearly defining the chains of command/role clarification for community groups/recognising iwi participation in emergency responses/capability building · Invited members to provide feedback into the next round of the new Emergency Management Bill. Key Points – Members: · Acknowledged particularly the following suggestions by the Independent Review Report undertaken by Mike Bush: o that consideration be given to reviewing the current guidance requiring declarations to be physically signed; supported that provision be made for verbal and/or online approval of emergency declarations o the importance of establishing reliable detection and early warning systems that were resilient to outages and provided adequate warning of potential or pending disasters · Importance of flexibility by the New Zealand Police, to respond, adapt, have a pragmatic approach to emergency management responses, irrespective of a hierarchical system · Highlighted the cost implications for local councils/ratepayers to provide adequate resources for training and capability building; expressed the need for central government to consider directing funding to assist national capability building · Importance of embedding local knowledge when incorporating recommendations from various reviews to ensure fit for purpose legislation · Highlighted general challenges relating to insurance/processes · Required leadership/national direction in term of spatial planning/land use as current legislative environment has limited mechanisms to prioritise risk reduction. |
10:55am – Commission Chair Anne Tolley withdrew from the meeting.
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Correspondence Presented by: Clinton Naude, Director, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Correspondence. 2 Receives the letter from the Chairperson of the Governance and Administration Committee regarding the Emergency Management Bill dated 31 January 2024, advising the deadline for the bill had been extended from March 2024 to December 2024 3 Notes the letter by Mayor Faylene Tunui, Chair Bay of Plenty CDEM Group Joint Committee, addressed to the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, Hon Mark Mitchell, “Invitation to visit the Bay of Plenty and attend the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Group Joint Committee” dated 7 February 2024. CARRIED |
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Appointment of the Chair and Deputy Chair to the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Coordinating Executive Group for the remainder of the 2022 - 2025 Triennium Presented by: Clinton Naude, Director, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Appointment of the Chair and Deputy Chair to the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Coordinating Executive Group for the remainder of the 2022 - 2025 Triennium. 2 Acknowledges the appointment of Fiona McTavish, Chief Executive, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana as Chair and Marty Grenfell, Chief Executive, Tauranga City Council, as Deputy Chair of the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Coordinating Executive Group for the remainder of the 2022 - 2025 Triennium. Luca/Campbell CARRIED |
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Review of the Whakaari White Island Eruption Recovery Presentation Whakaari White Island Review - 5th April 2024 FINAL: Objective ID A4636812 ⇨ Introduced by: Clinton Naude, Director, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty and presented by: Julian Reweti, Principal Advisor, Recovery and Sandra James, Connecting People Ltd. Key Points – Sandra James: · Presented the “Review of the Whakaari/White Island Eruption Recovery” Report · Highlighted key outcomes, challenges, and lessons learnt as part of the recovery from the Whakaari/White Island eruption that occurred on 9 December 2019 · Acknowledged the severity of the event/those who passed away/those injured or still suffering ongoing trauma and pain. Key Points - Staff: · The review findings had identified a number of learnings that would assist in improving future recovery governance, management and operations · Next step: Bay of Plenty CDEM Coordinating Executive Group had authorised a Whakaari/White Island recovery review action plan to be developed to address the key learnings and manage risks identified by the report. Key Point - Members: · Supported psychological support for individuals that, due to the nature of their involvement in an event, were repetitively exposed/reliving a traumatic events, be incorporated as a key learning. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Review of the Whakaari White Island Eruption Recovery. CARRIED |
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Whakaari/White Island Monitoring Verbal Update – Prof Tom Wilson NEMA Introduced by: Clinton Naude, Director, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty and presented by Prof Tom Wilson - Chief Science Advisor, NEMA, supported by Nico Fournier – Volcanologist, Te Pū Ao - GNS Science. Key Points: · Update on the current status of monitoring Whakaari/White Island o Whakaari/White Island was currently in a reasonably quiet state of activity o Limited ability to monitor the volcano (monitoring via instrumentation installed 24/7 on the ground/data assessed by teams of experts in real time) o Instrumentation on Whakaari/White Island was heavily damaged by the 2019 eruption and had degraded over time to the extent that monitoring no longer took place o Was unable to access Whakaari/White Island due to owners’ reluctance to allow access to the Island for the purpose of maintaining equipment o Currently monitoring Whakaari/White Island via flights every few weeks/satellite techniques/working with partner agencies such as MetService o Was unable to monitor activity in real time; was however able to provide a broad indication of the general level of activity o Would be unable to confirm or deny any eruption/confirm the likelihood of eruptions in a timely fashion o Highlighted the risk associated for aviation activities, maritime operations in the area, and to a lower extent a risk to communities on the coast due to possible ash fall · Recent work undertaken to progress management of the risk o GNS Science and the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand had escalated the risk with NEMA o A next step, was exploring potential options for obtaining access to Whakaari/White Island and other risk management options o Had convened a multi-agency group (representative of all central government agencies with roles and responsibilities) to explore in detail mechanisms/pathways of getting back on the Island; main aim was developing a sustainable long-term risk management plan for Whakaari/White Island – this work was still in progress o To address the current enhanced risk due to the lack of monitoring in the aviation space, as a short-term risk management measure, a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) had been filed with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand to alert aircraft pilots of the potential hazard along this flight route/location o In terms of maritime operations, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty is coordinating with the Bay of Plenty Harbour Master and is currently developing a workstream (hazard map) in liaison with GNS Science to create awareness/educate the public accordingly. Key Point - Members: · Supported ongoing monitoring of Whakaari/White Island; highlighted the importance of monitoring the Island as the active volcano posed an ongoing threat, both locally and regionally · Acknowledged the owners of Whakaari/White Island not allowing access due to possible liability; as a privately owned off-shore island, Whakaari/White Island, fell under the obligations of the Health and Safety at Work Act · Supported further conversation to pursue solutions to enable effective real-time monitoring of Whakaari/White Island. |
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11:57am - Mayor Denyer withdrew from the meeting. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the verbal update on Whakaari/White Island Monitoring Update – Prof Tom Wilson NEMA . Luca/Campbell CARRIED |
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National Catastrophic Planning – Prof Tom Wilson NEMA Introduced by: Clinton Naude, Director, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty, presented by Prof Tom Wilson - Chief Science Advisor, NEMA and David Gawn, Chief Executive Officer, NEMA. Key Points: · Provided an overview of the national catastrophic planning (CATPlan) programme · NEMA was developing an All-of-Government Catastrophic Handbook, which would provide initial direction for the National Controller/Controllers (and partner agencies) to establish and run an effective national response · Highlighted aspects by means of a scenario planning relevant for the Bay of Plenty Region (Hikurangi-M9.1 CATPlan Scenario) · “Catastrophic” meant complex events, complex systems and complex decisions o Would be beyond current arrangements/thinking/experience/ imagination o Would overwhelm technical/social systems/resources/degrade or disable governance structures and strategic and operational decision making functions o Differed from emergencies; they exceeded business as usual emergency management systems and capability design parameters · Risk was compounding in hazard prone areas because hazard events were occurring more often (rising sea and more energetic climate)/continued to build and intensify development in these areas · Relative vulnerability of people, property and infrastructure was growing · Climate change may also lead to greater frequency of events in short succession and compounding socio-economic pressures · Increasing number of complexity of responses and pressure on traditional risk transfer mechanism, so increasing need to focus on risk reduction · Was critical to understand risks, in all their complexity · Understanding how to reduce risks was essential · Understanding and working within the complexities of communities · Assured members of the Joint Committee that catastrophic planning was being taken seriously at Central Government level; programme was being informed by science · Highlighted the interdependencies of regions; All-of-Government Catastrophic Handbook to serve as a guideline for all to ponder and commence associated contingency planning/understanding the science/the effect · To support this thinking, next step - Exercise Rū Whenua 2024, a Tier 4 (national) exercise under the National CDEM Exercise Programme and a national exercise on the Interagency National Exercise Programme, to be conducted over three dates in 2024; 12 June, 26 June, and 10 July 2024. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the verbal update, National Catastrophic Planning – Prof Tom Wilson NEMA. Luca/Campbell CARRIED |
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Update - National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) - April 2024 Presented by Lily Foulds, Regional Emergency Management Advisor, National Emergency Management Agency. Key Point: · Noted that the verbal update by the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, Hon Mark Mitchell, on the status of the Emergency Management Bill, had superseded the information included in the report. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Update - National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) - April 2024. CARRIED |
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Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group - Local Recovery Manager Rescindment Presented by Clinton Naude, Director, Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group - Local Recovery Manager Rescindment; 2 Approves the rescindment of Anna Hayward, Local Recovery Manager for the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group as defined under s30(1). CARRIED |
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Regional Safety and Rescue Services Funding - 2024/25 to 2026/27 Presented by: Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana General Manager, Regulatory Services, Reuben Fraser. Key Points: · The Regional Safety and Rescue Services (RSRS) Coordinating Executive Group Subcommittee consisted of representatives from the following agencies/councils: Emergency Management Bay of Plenty, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Hato Hone St John, New Zealand Police, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Toi Moana, Rotorua Lakes Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council · Proportions recommended in the report were based on formulas applied over the past years. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Regional Safety and Rescue Services Funding - 2024/25 to 2026/27. 2 Confirms the RSRS funding allocation of the current budget of $400,000 in the BOPRC draft Long Term Plan, specifically: (a) Surf Life Saving NZ excl. Tauranga (SLSNZ), allocate funding of $250,000 per annum for 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27. (b) Royal New Zealand Coastguard (Coastguard), allocate funding of $71,500 per annum for 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27. (c) Rotorua Mountain Bike Club (RMTBC), allocate funding of $58,500 per annum for 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27. (d) New Zealand Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR), allocate funding of $20,000 per annum for 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27. 3 Recommend the Youth Search and Rescue (YSAR) application is: (a) transferred for consideration though the BOPRC Community Initiatives Fund (CIF) in the LTP 2024-2034 (b) If YSAR are unsuccessful under CIF, recommend YSAR is allocated RSRS funding of $8000 per annum, with each of the other four RSRS funding recipients having their funding reduced by $2000 per annum. 4 Recommends to the Bay of Plenty Regional Council that it include additional funding for RSRS through the Long Term Plan 2024-2034, based on inflation being applied to the original RSRS funding of $400,000, starting in 2022/23 as set out in Table 1 of this report. Note: Inflation values may be adjusted based on BOPRC inflation value updates through the finalisation of the LTP 2024. CARRIED |
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Bay of Plenty CDEM Group - Third Quarter Reporting Schedule 30 December 2023 - 30 March 2024 Presented by Clinton Naude, Director Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. |
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That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Bay of Plenty CDEM Group - Third Quarter Reporting Schedule 30 December 2023 - 30 March 2024. CARRIED |
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Update - Director Emergency Management Bay of Plenty Presented by Clinton Naude, Director Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. Key Points: · New Zealand Response Team (NZRT) 16 o Tauranga (NZRT16) underwent their national accreditation process over the weekend of 22–24 March 2024 o The full accreditation report had since been received and was being processed to incorporate some corrective actions o Commended the volunteers for their commitment and dedication, being of service to their community and working over a long-weekend, submitting their skills to a rigorous auditing process o Feedback regarding the re-accreditation certificate to be provided in due time.
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Resolved That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Receives the report, Update - Director Emergency Management Bay of Plenty. Campbell/Moore CARRIED |
Minutes to be Confirmed
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Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee Minutes - 15 December 2023 |
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Resolved That the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1 Confirms the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee Minutes - 15 December 2023 as a true and correct record. Tunui/Luca CARRIED |
Closing Karakia
Provided by Stace Tahere – Manager, Planning.
12:43 pm – the meeting closed.
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Chairperson, Bay of Plenty Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee