Emergency resilience fund ‘completely over subscribed’
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A West Coast request for resilience funding from the national emergency agency has been partly rejected due to a lack of money.
About $500,000 was funded from a $1.4 million request, a meeting of the West Coast Emergency Management Joint Committee heard on November 8.
The application was made to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) resilience fund, which is targeted towards civil emergency welfare measures.
Committee members heard the national fund was oversubscribed by more than $4m due to the volume of applications.
The West Coast application was to install shipping containers to hold welfare supplies at five key locations across the region, to be utilised in a major Alpine Fault earthquake (AF8) catastrophe.
The South Island is predicted to be overdue for a magnitude 8-plus quake by about 30 years.
Given the West Coast's high vulnerability to a major earthquake, its region's scattered communities have been told to expect to be self sufficient for days, if not weeks, in a major disaster.
There was to be one resilience container each for Buller, Grey and Westland and the two marae.
The scope of the container contents was based on what other regions had in their welfare containers "without overpitching it".
West Coast Emergency Management Joint Committee chairperson Jamie Cleine said it was important for the region reapply.
He noted the key role of the region's two marae at Arahura and Bruce Bay, which needed to be emergency response centres in an emergency.
In the meantime the councils had pitched in some of their own resources to help move the project forward, Cleine said.
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae chairperson Francois Tumahai said the Arahura Marae was designated as an emergency activation centre.
"It seems a bit strange we're not kitted up for it. As you know, with the Kaikōura (earthquake) event, the marae were the first to kick in.
"I think it's a no-brainer to be honest."
Brown said they have been bidding to the long-term plan budget planning of the region's three territorial authorities and the West Coast Regional Council.
They were proposing an increased budget to focus on the welfare and planning aspects of emergency management regionally. They were also seeking more finance to upgrade the website, and for training.
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West Coast’s three most polluted waterways
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The top three polluted creeks on the West Coast will be targeted in a voluntary new approach to help clean up its waterways.
The West Coast Regional Council, using decades of previous data, plans to work with adjoining landowners in to address polluted waterways via "non regulatory methods".
Waimea Creek, which hosts almost a dozen working gold mines, is one of the worst three, with multiple abatements slapped on mine operators following a raft of complaints over many years.
Bradshaws Creek near Westport and Baker Creek near Karamea are the other two on the list, with farming believed to be contributing to poor water quality.
Council's resource management committee agreed on May 7 to press "pause" on its Freshwater Farm Plan measures as it awaits a Government review of the system.
The regional council then endorsed promoting a voluntary approach via the catchment management programme.
Acting planning manager Selva Selvarajah said the proposed approach in working with adjoining landowners was "almost brand new" for the region.
Until now catchment issues had been dealt with by council on a case-by-case basis, he said.
"Non regulatory methods" via catchment management programmes can be effective, based on wider experience.
The pause now on the Freshwater Farm approach gave scope for council's own catchment programme, he said.
Key stakeholders Poutini Ngāi Tahu, the farming sector and the region's dairy company were on board with the new voluntary approach.
Decades of catchment data held by council was used to identify the most problematic areas to make a start, Selvarajah said.
Programme co-ordinator Koeen Beets said their data base on E Coli, phosphorus, clarity, and macroinvertebrates helped them identify "the poorest" catchments.
Waimea Creek, Bradshaws Creek and Baker Creek were "the worst case scenarios".
Waimea had "a very poor" clarity score linked to activity in the catchment. Yet to be harvested plantation forestry, mining and farming were believed to be factors.
Beets said mixed farming dominated Bradshaws Creek, and he presented a picture of stock pugging on that creek's bank as an example.
That creek fed into the same estuary as Martins Creek, above the popular swimming spot on Marrs Beach opposite the town of Westport.
That beach has been on council's radar for years for its poor swimming water quality.
Beets said that catchment would require a broad approach to understand the complex factors at play.
Council environmental scientist Jonny Horrox said Martins Creek would not be ignored following a previous community-group approach.
There was less farming in that catchment compared to Bradshaws, he said.
Beets said the E .coli levels for the dairy-dominated Baker Creek at Karamea was very poor.
He said it was on a score where if a swimmer dipped into it 100 times, they would become sick from seven of those swims, he said.
Consultant Nicola McGrouther, an expert in catchment management, said the aim was to support adjoining landowners to voluntarily make changes to improve water quality.
"They need to be farmer-led and community-led," she said.
Each catchment programme would be unique with an underlying standard approach similar to that used by the NZ Landcare Trust community catchment model.
"We work with those communities to understand what the issues are."
Councillor Frank Dooley, who queried a possible link between Westport's wastewater treatment site and the headwaters of Bradshaws Creek, said he wanted to see an action plan on how the groups would be formed.
Council chief executive Darryl Lew said council already had external funding to employ Beets as the direct contact, and two further interns.
Lew believed council could direct adequate resources to support three catchment groups meantime with the existing funding until June 2025, with the council's proposed long-term plan incorporating it from there.
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