Three important updates have been presented to HB councils this week on recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle. BayBuzz is reporting on each of these over the course of the week. First, we reported here on HBRC’s actions to date response to the Independent Flood Review it commissioned.

This Report – Strengthening Hawke’s Bay’s Emergency Management System Since Cyclone Gabrielle – was prepared by HB CDEM staff and presented to the new members of the HB CDEM Joint Committee on 24 November.

As with HB’s other attempts at regional coherence, HB CDEM (Civil Defence and Emergency Management) consists of the region’s Mayors, Regional Chair and Post-Settlement Governance Entities and Iwi Leaders, with the grunt work done by the CEOs of same. 

The Report provides an overview of the region’s emergency management development since Cyclone Gabrielle, including why change was needed, the strategic direction set by the previous Joint Committee, the progress made since 2023, and the major workstreams that will require continued governance oversight. 

The changes that have been implemented or are underway – incorporated in the HB CDEM Transformation Strategy – respond to the two major reviews of HB’s emergency readiness and response with respect to Cyclone Gabrielle – the HBRC’s independent review conducted by Mike Bush and the Government inquiry led by Sir Jerry Mateparae.

Taken together, the reviews reinforced the need for a fundamental lift in Hawke’s Bay’s emergency management arrangements, particularly in local capability, regional coordination, clarity of roles and long-term resilience.

The Transformation Strategy sets forth these focus areas:

• Māori Partnership: Strengthening shared leadership with mana whenua so Māori perspectives shape governance, planning, readiness, response and recovery. 16.2. 

• Community Connections: Supporting stronger relationships with communities so they can prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.

• Infrastructure and Assets: Improving the resilience and readiness of EOCs, the ECC, communications systems and other critical emergency management assets. 

• Training and Exercising: Building skilled and confident people through coordinated regional training and regular multi-agency exercises. 

• Planning: Delivering clear, consistent and risk-informed local and regional plans across all hazards and functions. 

• Performance and Assurance: Establishing clear standards and regular reviews to ensure consistent, effective and continuously improving practice. 

• Service Level Agreements: Clarifying local and regional roles and expectations through an agreed operational framework for how councils and the Group work together.

Each council remains responsible for its own local readiness and planning according to a ‘Service Level Agreement’ that stipulates expectations with respect to response capability, training, emergency welfare delivery and the like. 

However, a central Emergency Management Office (EMO) provides the strategic direction, coordination and specialist capability. EMO:

• Builds capability across all councils through training, exercising, systems, processes and intelligence. 
• Partners with mana whenua to support shared planning and community-centred resilience. 
• Leads key hazard and risk work, including tsunami evacuation zones, flood trigger levels, contingency planning, and regional hazard research. 
• Provides assurance and reporting, so councils and communities have visibility of readiness and emerging risks. 
• Maintains the Group Emergency Coordination Centre and leads regional coordination during major events.
• Supports community resilience and education across the region.

The Report describes numerous actions taken to date, such as: 

• the establishment of 53 Community Emergency Hubs across the Bay, with another 41 in progress; 
• the completion of 36 Community Response Plans, with another 15 in progress;
• procurement of solar and battery systems for 14 key sites to support power resilience during prolonged outages; 
• improvements to satellite communication and digital radio networks, and an increase in staff trained and authorised to issue Emergency Mobile Alerts; 
• 1,365 total training attendances across Emergency Management Essentials, coordination centre training, function-specific courses, welfare and recovery training; and,
• Exercise Activate 2025, a series of tabletop exercises delivered across the entire system — 243 participants took part, including 25 staff from Emergency Services across Fire and Emergency NZ, NZ Police, Health NZ, Public Health and St John.

Altogether, HB CDEM’s activities have an annual budget of $4.3 million, funded primarily by targeted rates. Shane Briggs serves as Director, HB CDEM, on the job since September 2024, with a 20-some year history in emergency management at the local and national levels.

All this represents commendable progress. What next?

As for future planning and implementation, the Report notes: 

“…national emergency management reform is underway, with new legislation and minimum standards likely to further increase expectations on councils and the Group. 

“There is no additional funding from central government to match these rising expectations. Councils and the Joint Committee will need to make difficult choices as they set future budgets and levels of service.”

There’s no escaping the funding issue! Stay tuned.

For serious students, the full Report to HBCDEM is here, and the HBCDEM Transformation Strategy is here.