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.
A reminder this hunting season
As thousands of hunters are making their plans for autumn – the Roar – recreational firearms groups are urging hunters to always be 100% sure of their targets.
Te Tari Pureke - Firearms Safety Authority NZ, which chairs the Recreational Firearms Users Group, has begun a public information campaign reminding hunters everywhere of Rule #4 of the Firearms Safety Code: to identify their target beyond all doubt.
Director Communities and Corporate, Mike McIlraith, says there is an estimated 50,000-60,000 New Zealanders involved in big game animal hunting each year, and the Roar is the key event for many hunters each year.
“The Roar is a fantastic time of year for hunters to get out into the hills after a trophy animal but hunting safely and making sure everyone gets home in one piece, still must be the most important goal of every trip,” says Mike McIlraith.
“The consequences of not fully identifying your target beyond all doubt can be catastrophic. Our message to hunters is a really simple one: If you are not sure, then don’t shoot.”
Mike McIlraith says while hunting fatalities are thankfully rare, research has shown that misidentification of the target is the largest firearms related risk to New Zealand deer hunters, and 80% of the time this involves members of the same hunting group.
The Authority says hunters should not feel pressured to take a shot: “Instead, hunters should take the time to analyse their target, wait and see if it is a hind or stag, how old is the animal, how many points does its antlers have? Identifying your target means never firing at sound, shape, colour or movement alone.”
Mike McIlraith says good hunters will slow down, and run through some simple mental checks:
- Can I see the whole animal, or could this be another hunter?
- Where are my hunting companions – could this be them or someone else?
- How much of the animal can you see, if it is a hind or stag, how old is the animal, how - many points does its antlers have?
“Taking a little extra time to identify your target and check the firing zone is the key to safer hunting. No meat or no trophy is better than no mate,” he says.
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