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.
Fuel tax hike will ‘penalise’ West Coast motorists
By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A proposal to shift the road tax burden onto those who drive the furthest will really hit people living in provincial regions like the West Coast, the chair of its regional transport committee says.
West Coast Regional Transport Committee chairperson Peter Ewen said the West Coast needed to "front foot it" by banding together with similar regions to strongly submit against some of the proposed measures.
The Government is proposing to increase the fuel excise tax at the pump - ahead of further work to put all vehicles on an even footing by paying a road user charge instead.
This could see all vehicles - electric, petrol and diesel - being charged based on weight and distance travelled.
This approach could be "very significant" for the 650km long West Coast region, Ewen told council's Resource Management Committee this week.
Ewen said it could "unduly penalise" the West Coast and similar rural provincial regions which had no public transport, meaning people needed to drive long distances to access basic services like medical care.
The move to charge based on "use" would be disproportionate compared to the major urban centres, leaving the West Coast "at the vanguard" of user pays again for rural dwellers, the West Coast Regional councillor said.
"We have to make it very clear that one fit doesn't fit all … the talk of transport is all urban focused," he said.
Councillor Frank Dooley said the proposed changes seemed "really weak" on mitigations.
"I get really concerned when they talk about 'nature based solutions'."
Councillor Brett Cummings said it did put the issues back to the region "to come up with solutions".
At the same time the price of fuel and the impact on the region's industry "is really expensive".
"From my point of view I'd rather they take some of the tax off fuel for those that don't drive on the road."
He was referring to the likes of farming and mining machinery which pay road user charges through their fuel.
Councillor Peter Haddock, a member of the regional transport committee, said the idea was to ensure electric vehicles now paid for their road use.
He suggested Ewen and himself would be more than happy to advocate at a South Island level.
CEwen said the pressure was only going to get worse in the meantime with the country now reliant on imported refined fuel already exacerbating rural living costs.
"This is getting out of hand. We don't have any Marsden Point any more, and we're at the end of the queue, with rural communities even further back."
And the 2024 Prospa Local Business Hero is...
A huge congratulations to mother and son duo, Mary and Sam Danielson from The Puketapu Hotel.
The votes for all finalists have been tallied and they have been chosen by Neighbourly members across the country as the Prospa Local Business Hero of 2024.
The Puketapu Hotel was nominated by a local called Margaret and the nomination reads:
'On Feb 14, 2023, Cyclone Gabrielle flooded many of the rural areas. Puketapu Hotel went under perhaps half a meter of water. However, immediately Mary Danielson and her son, Sam Danielson, along with their loyal staff pulled it together to cook copious amounts of food that without electricity would have been wasted. Throughout the years many of us have been treated with a pub gathering where we can reconnect and a free meal. At Christmas there was Santa, games, gifts for kids, donated patchwork for adults, an ice cream truck and lots of camaraderie.
This February on the cyclone anniversary, they again pulled out the stops to give hundreds of us a special night. We are all tired of the cyclone cleanup and they understood that it was needed.'
Such a deserving business and team, well done Mary and Sam. And thank you to all those who voted!
Poll: What is the smallest size hearing device Triton Hearing offer?
Some kiwis think hearing devices are big and ugly.
What if we told you technology has advanced substantially and they’re available in all shapes, colours, and sizes?
Go in the draw to win* a $40 MTA voucher when you share your answer to the
question below. Give it a go!
*T&C’s apply – must be over 18.
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4.8% b) The size of a AAA battery
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7.1% c) The size of a $2 coin
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