Minutes of a meeting of the HB Civil Defence
Emergency Management Group Joint Committee

Date:                                    Monday 27 November 2023

Time:                                    1.30pm

Venue:

Council Chamber Hawke's Bay Regional Council 159 Dalton Street NAPIER

Present:                           Mayor A Walker - CHBDC Chair

Mayor S Hazlehurst – HDC (online)

Deputy Mayor A Brosnan – NCC

Cr  S Siers – HBRC (online)

Cr  J Harker – WDC (online)

B Barber – Ngati Kahungunu Iwi

L Symes - Tātau Tātau o te Wairoa

In Attendance:                 I Macdonald – HB CDEM Group Controller

S Tiatia – NEMA

N Peet – HBRC Chief Executive

D Tate – CHBDC Chief Executive

M Meads – Simplexity Consulting (online)

N Bickle – HDC Chief Executive

L Miller – NCC Chief Executive (online)

L Ferris – CDEM (online)

M Bush – Bush International Consulting (online)

R McLeod – Regional Recovery Agency (from 1.46pm)

P Martin – HBRC Senior Governance Advisor

1. Welcome/Karakia /Apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone and Bayden Barber opened the meeting with a karakia.

At this meeting Councillor Sophie Siers is the representative for HBRC, Councillor Jeremy Harker for WDC and Deputy Mayor Annette Brosnan for NCC.

Resolution

CDE24/23 That the apologies for absence from HBRC Chair Hinewai Ormsby and Mayors Kirsten Wise and Craig Little be accepted.

Brosnan/Hazlehurst

CARRIED

2. Conflict of interest declarations

There were no conflicts of interest declared.

3.       Confirmation of Minutes of the HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee meeting held on 28 August 2023

CDE25/23

Resolution Minutes of the HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee meeting held on Monday, 28 August 2023, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record. Hazlehurst/Walker CARRIED

4.	Emergency Management Bill: Group submission
	Ian Macdonald introduced the item, noting that with a new Government in place it is not clear if the Bill will be progressed as envisaged.
CDE26/23	Resolutions That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee: 1.      Receives and considers the Submission to Emergency Management Bill: Group Submission report. 2. Endorses the HB CDEM Group submission to the Emergency Management Bill as proposed. Brosnan/Siers CARRIED

5.	NEMA update
	Salevi Tiatia introduced the item and discussions noted: · The progress of the Emergency Management Bill may become clearer in coming weeks. · 13 CDEM groups across the country are still in recovery from various weather events. · Disappointment that the new Government doesn’t include a dedicated Recovery Ministry but instead a joint Ministry for CDEM and Recovery (Minister Mark Mitchell). · HB should be reaching out to the incoming Minister to ensure that the region remains a focus, in particular looking at what funding is/will be available to continue recovery efforts. · The CDEM and Recovery Minister will be invited to visit HB as soon as possible.
CDE27/23	Resolution That the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee receives and notes the NEMA update report. Hazlehurst/Siers CARRIED
6.	Regional Recovery Agency - Cyclone Gabrielle recovery update
	Ross McLeod introduced this item and discussions covered: · Good progress is being made with rebuilding flood protection and property buyouts. · The Regional Recovery Agency (RRA) is focussed on opportunities for the region that arise as we move from recovery to rebuilding. · It is vital that the incoming government is kept informed about the situation in HB. A combined Briefing to Incoming Ministers (BIM) will be presented to the government along with version two of the Recovery Plan. · The new government’s first 100 days plan includes working with regions in recovery. The Matariki Governance Group is also building relationships with the incoming ministers. · Wairoa and Tairawhiti have been hard hit by ongoing weather events; fixing drains, roads and riverbanks can seem meaningless until there is weather certainty. For now, patch up work continues with a view to rebuilding properly when the timing is right. · Achieving resilience, particularly in Wairoa, may mean building back in different places. · The involvement of so many agencies in the decision-making processes is affecting response times, which in turn is slowing down the recovery. · Silt and other debris removal – from the start the aim was to move about 20% of the silt to return productive land to use. About half of that target has been met with progress initially affected by the need to set up a process for it to happen. High value land continues to be a priority and further funding has been sought from the government to complete the process. · It would be useful to understand what the financial impact would be if further funding is not available for the silt removal process. · Recovery planning in HB includes significant Māori and Treaty-related matters; these aspects could be under threat from the incoming government’s policies. HB plans need to remain true to their intent – being inclusive of Māori in all aspects of the recovery. · Housing remains an ongoing issue. Some longer term projects are planned and in the interim there are short term projects under way to address high demand, including a Ngati Kahungunu Iwi-led initiative to have 86 cabins in place across HB.
CDE28/23	Resolution That the HB Civil Defence Emergency Group Joint Committee receives and notes the Regional Recovery Agency update – Cyclone Gabrielle recovery update report. Harker/Hazlehurst CARRIED

7.	CDEM Group Manager's monitoring and performance report
	Ian Macdonald introduced the item and discussions covered: · The Work Programme was approved by the Joint Committee at the end of 2022 – Cyclone Gabrielle has delayed the implementation of the CDEM Group Strategy on the ground across the region. · Ongoing weather events (particularly in Wairoa) continue to affect staff availability to get on with the work programme. · Staffing at GECC is now at full strength for the first time since the 2020 COVID lockdown. · Tsunami risk is one of the biggest hazards in HB and work is underway to plan for an event including the review of evacuation zones. · Considerable work is underway with community hubs. As a trial, CDEM Group and HDC council staff have been working with individual communities to build their emergency plans and set up hubs in a community-led way – for roll-out in other areas. · Upgraded information systems are being shared amongst councils and partner agencies throughout the country, with HB being one of the first to trial and then introduce them. · Training to develop workforce capability is a priority and a revised training programme is being trialled. Following refinements this will be fully implemented with all councils in the new year. · The Group Plan will be reviewed soon, and includes strengthening tangata whenua partnerships. · HBRC manages civil defence funding on behalf of all HB councils through their Long Term Plan, which is being developed at present, and CDEM Group resourcing is part of that.
CDE29/23	Resolution That the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group Joint Committee receives and notes the Group Manager’s monitoring and performance report. Hazlehurst/Siers CARRIED

8.	Update on the independent review into Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle
	Doug Tate introduced the item and Mike Bush provided an update. Discussions covered: · The review is well supported by HB locals and councils with more than 900 submissions received already. Interaction with the operational agencies involved has taken place. Now engaging with the community and mana whenua which will likely take longer than anticipated. The closing date for submissions has been extended to 31 December 2023. · The review completion date is likely to be pushed back a few weeks to March 2024. · There are plans to hold further face-to-face meetings with communities and mana whenua. The Review team is mindful that people can be re-traumatised through this process. · There are three Cyclone-related reviews underway and all of the teams involved are sharing information, cooperating and looking to avoid duplication.
CDE30/23	Resolution That the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee receives and notes the Update on the independent Review into Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle report. Brosnan/Hazlehurst CARRIED

9.

Amendments to the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group Plan: Controller and Recovery Manager appointments

CDE31/23

Resolution

That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Group Joint Committee excludes the public from this section of the meeting, being Agenda Item 9 Amendments to the Hawke's Bay CDEM Group Plan: Controller and Recovery Manager appointments with the general subject of the item to be considered while the public is excluded. The reasons for passing the resolution and the specific grounds under Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are:

General subject of the item to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution	Grounds under section 48(1) for the passing of the resolution
Amendments to the Hawke's Bay CDEM Group Plan: Controller and Recovery Manager appointments	7(2)(f)(ii) The withholding of the information is necessary to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the protection of such members, officers, employees, and persons from improper pressure or harassment. s7(2)(a) That the public conduct of this agenda item would be likely to result in the disclosure of information where the withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons.	The Council is specified, in the First Schedule to this Act, as a body to which the Act applies.

Hazlehurst/Siers

CARRIED

10.             Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes

CDE32/23 Resolution

That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Group Joint Committee excludes the public from this section of the meeting, being Agenda Item 10 Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes with the general subject of the item to be considered while the public is excluded. The reasons for passing the resolution and the specific grounds under Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are:

General subject of the item to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution	Grounds under section 48(1) for the passing of the resolution
Amendments to the Hawke's Bay CDEM Group Plan: Controller appointments	7(2)(f)(ii) The withholding of the information is necessary to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the protection of such members, officers, employees, and persons from improper pressure or harassment. s7(2)(a) That the public conduct of this agenda item would be likely to result in the disclosure of information where the withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons.	The Council is specified, in the First Schedule to this Act, as a body to which the Act applies.

Hazlehurst/Siers

CARRIED

The meeting went into public excluded session at 2.39pm and out of public excluded session at 2.49pm

Bayden Barber closed the meeting with a karakia.

Closure:

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 2.50pm on Monday 27 November 2023.

Signed as a true and correct record.

Date: ................................................                            Chair: ...............................................