Work is progressing on a full review of the Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group Plan, the key document that guides how the region prepares for, responds to and recovers from emergencies.

Under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, every region in Aotearoa New Zealand must have a CDEM Group Plan. These plans set out how emergency management activities will be coordinated across councils and partner agencies, ensuring they are delivered effectively and efficiently. 

Plans must clearly set out:

• All the hazard risks the region could face, from earthquakes and storms to pandemics, cyber-attacks and other threats
• How these risks will be reduced and what actions will be taken to prepare for and respond to any emergencies that still happen
• How recovery will be organised so that communities, infrastructure and services can be restored in an effective and efficient way while building future resilience
• How emergency management activities will be coordinated, including how responsibilities are shared and who pays for what.

The new Tairāwhiti CDEM Group Plan will describe how the region organises itself as a collective, how decisions are made and outlines the roles and responsibilities of agencies involved in emergency management. It will also signal the investment needed to strengthen resilience over the next five years.

The plan was last fully reviewed in 2016 with a partial update in 2019 to strengthen recovery arrangements. 

As part of this work, the Tairāwhiti CDEM Group has completed risk assessment workshops to identify the key challenges facing the region in a systematic and evidence‑based way. Insights from these workshops inform the development of the draft plan which is currently being prepared.

The draft plan will be released for public consultation later this year. Community members will be invited to make submissions and those who wish to speak to their submission will have the opportunity to be heard by the CDEM Group.

Tairāwhiti Emergency Management encourages anyone interested in shaping the future of emergency management in the region to get involved.

To register an interest in the consultation process, contact the Tairāwhiti Emergency Management Office through emplan@gdc.govt.nz .