Westland District’s civil defence spending questioned

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

A new civil defence centre to be built by the Westland District Council at the Hokitika Airport has raised questions about who will pay.

The West Coast Regional Council is charged with co-ordinating and funding the regional Civil Defence and Emergency Management function for the entire West Coast.

Each of the three district councils also retain their own civil defence functions with staff, but are co-ordinated under the umbrella of the wider regional CDEM group during a natural disaster.

The fact that Westland was planning to build an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Hokitika was raised by councillor Peter Ewen on September 12, and previously at the August meeting.

"I've never seen any paper come across this table," he said in reference to it.

Chairperson Peter Haddock said the matter was aired at a recent West Coast mayors and chairs forum and Westland had provided some clarity.

"Westland District Council are proposing that they build their own building up there - that they will be funding.

"It's something they're doing on their own bat but it was confirmed ... that they will not be using it as the main centre for the West Coast," Haddock said.

Chief executive Darryl Lew said the West Coast Emergency Control Centre remained in Greymouth.

But each of the districts were planning some form of EOC.

"There will be no call on this council's budget for the civil defence line on that," he said.

Ewen said as long as that cost fact was formalised he would be happy. He noted the prior experience of the regional council being billed by the district council for a share of the new Hokitika beach access cost, based on a verbal agreement.

"I'm reminded of the beach ramp problem. There needs to be paper work on that," Ewen said.

The regional council received an invoice from the district council for a share of the $90,000 plus cost of reinstating access to the Hokitika Beach.

It refused to pay when it emerged the bill was the result of a 'gentlemen's agreement' between staff on both sides, but with no formal documentation.

West Coast CDEM group manager Claire Brown recently said the move by Westland was strategic and would enable a physical separation between the business as usual functions at council's central Hokitika chambers and its civil defence function.

The move to establish a 'bricks and mortar' emergency operations centre near the Hokitika Airport was also regionally strategic.

Brown said it was a substantial piece of work but necessary in view of the "larger picture" overshadowing the region - namely an Alpine Fault rupture - and necessary to provide wider strategic resources for the region not just fixed to one location.