Agenda of HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee

Meeting of the HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group
Joint Committee

Date: 29 July 2024

Time: 1.30pm

Venue:

Council Chamber

Hastings District Council

207 Lyndon Road East

HASTINGS

Agenda

Item Title Page

1. Welcome/Karakia/Notices/Apologies

2. Conflict of Interest Declarations

3. Confirmation of Minutes of the HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee held on 25 March 2024

Decision Items

4. Appointment of a Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee 3

Information or Performance Monitoring

5. Te Matau-a-Maui Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Plan 2.0 13

6. HB CDEM Group Controller/ Manager update 15

7. HB CDEM Group Work Programme update 31

8. National Emergency Management Agency update 53

Decision Items (Public Excluded)

9. Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes 57

10. Amendments to the Hawke's Bay CDEM Group Plan: Controller and Recovery Manager appointments 59

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

29 July 2024

Subject: Appointment of a Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee

Reason for report

1. This item provides the means for the Joint Committee to officially appoint a Specialist Advisor.

Background

2. At the Joint Committee meeting on 25 March 2024, the report on the independent review of the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle was received.

3. In receiving the report, the Joint Committee passed a number of resolutions including a specific resolution to provide for an independent Emergency Management Specialist appointment, being:

3.1. The HB CDEM Group Joint Committee requests that the HB CDEM Coordinating Executive Group recommends an independent emergency management specialist for appointment to the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee.

4. Following the meeting a role description was prepared and shared with Joint Committee members, and is attached to this report.

5. Through May 2024 the role was advertised and in June 2024 interviews were held with candidates. The selection panel comprised of HBRC and HB CDEM Group Joint Committee Chair Hinewai Ormsby, Ngati Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated Chair Bayden Barber, Mayor Alex Walker and HB CDEM Coordinating Executive Group Chair Doug Tate.

6. Having completed the interview process, the Panel is now recommending the appointment of the preferred candidate.

Discussion

7. A shortlist of four candidates was interviewed, with the mix of interviewees being of an incredibly high calibre and all more than capable of successfully delivering on the role. The mix of interviewees brought a combination of national and international experience and all had been professionals at some of the highest levels of service in their fields.

8. Following interviews, Mr John Hamilton is recommended by the panel for appointment. Mr Hamilton’s CV is attached.

9. Mr Hamilton brings a depth of experience and local knowledge that will be critical in working to give the Joint Committee assurance and understanding of the Emergency Management System. Mr Hamilton is Hawke’s Bay based and actively working in Hawke’s Bay. His experience is significant, including Director Civil Defence and National Controller at the time of the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 and serving as Chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

10. The selection panel and Mr Hamilton will be in attendance at the meeting to speak to the appointment.

Financial and resource implications

11. Terms and conditions have been confirmed with Mr Hamilton and can be accommodated within existing budgets. There are no other financial or resource implications of this decision.

Consultation

12. The Interview panel has sought feedback from other Joint Committee members on this appointment prior to making its recommendation.

Decision-making considerations

13. Councils and their committees are required to make every decision in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 (the Act). Staff have assessed the requirements in relation to this item and have concluded:

13.1. The decision does not significantly alter the service provision or affect a strategic asset, nor is it inconsistent with an existing policy or plan.

13.2. The use of the special consultative procedure is not prescribed by legislation.

13.3. The persons affected by this decision are the members of the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee.

13.4. Given the nature of the issue to be considered and decided, the Joint Committee can exercise its discretion and make a decision without consulting directly with the community.

Recommendations

That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee:

1. Receives and considers the Appointment of Advisor to the Joint Committee staff report.

2. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant and that the Joint Committee can exercise its discretion and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community.

3. Appoints Mr John Hamilton as Specialist Advisor – Emergency Management to the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee.

Authored & Approved by:

Doug Tate

CHBDC Chief Executive

Attachment/s

1 ⇩	CDEM Group Independent Advisor Description
2 ⇩	John Hamilton CV

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

29 July 2024

Subject: Te Matau-a-Maui Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Plan 2.0

Reason for report

1. This item introduces, for information, the second iteration of the recovery plan Te Matau-a-Maui Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Plan 2.0, Building Hawke’s Bay Back Better, Safer and Smarter, July 2024 (referred to herein as Plan 2.0).

Background

2. The RRA published its first iteration recovery plan Cyclone Gabrielle 2023 Te Matau-a- Maui Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Plan in September 2023. This plan was delivered at pace, with significant involvement and input from councils, iwi/hapu and Post Settlement Governance Entities (PSGEs). The first iteration plan was very much a bottom-up plan, focusing on regional scale restoration activities and first steps towards reconstruction and improvement. It identified 305 recovery actions/initiatives where funding was desirable, with a cost of $4.198 billion. Although there were insufficient funds to support all of these initiatives one third of this funding has been secured through contributions from the Crown and other entities.

3. Given the tight turnaround for the delivery of the first plan, it was always envisaged that Plan 2.0 would be prepared. This diverges from the first iteration plan in that it provides a top down, strategic approach to the region’s medium to long-term recovery priorities. This approach is endorsed by the Matariki Governance Group, focusing on the key priority areas where joined-up initiatives, funding or other central Government support or assistance is vital to ongoing recovery and resilience building for Hawke’s Bay.

Discussion

4. Plan 2.0 captures recovery and resilience projects and programmes of work which are intended to make the region’s infrastructure, economy, community and environment more resilient to future weather and hazard events and highlights the importance of identifying opportunities for improvement across the region where they will have a positive impact for Hawke’s Bay in the future. The identified priority areas have informed the region’s input into Budget 24 and provide a collective path forward in terms of building resilient communities and laying the foundation for a more prosperous and equitable region.

5. The regional priorities endorsed by Matariki Governance Group and presented within Plan 2.0 are:

5.1. restored and resilient infrastructure

5.2. workforce development

5.3. housing to meet whanau and community need

5.4. whanau and community wellbeing

5.5. water resilience

5.6. primary sector

5.7. resilient health services, and

5.8. environment.

6. Plan 2.0 recognises that there has been a significant amount of recovery work undertaken to date and still underway. Plan 2.0 provides an update on the progress which has been made across these workstreams, including:

6.1. negotiations, FoSAL and voluntary buyout

6.2. flood mitigation and regulatory relief

6.3. kaupapa Māori pathway, and

6.4. silt and debris.

7. On 21 June 2024 the Matariki Governance Group endorsed the public release of Plan 2.0 with the recommendation that it be presented to the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee, for information.

Next steps

8. It is important to note that Plan 2.0 will be a living document and updated over time. This will enable the document to reflect progress as programmes of work are completed, or as other issues relating to recovery arise. It will also allow for ongoing community feedback and input into the plan and the region’s priorities. It is intended that community feedback will be invited when the plan in launched within the next month.

Decision-making process

9. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the HB Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee receives and notes the Te Matau-a-Maui Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Plan 2.0 report.

Authored & Approved by:

Ross McLeod

Chief Executive, HB Regional Recovery Agency

Attachment/s

1 ⇨

Te Matau a Maui Hawke's Bay Regional Recovery Plan 2.0 July 2024

Under Separate Cover

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

29 July 2024

Subject: HB CDEM Group Controller/ Manager update

Reason for report

1. This item informs and updates the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group Joint Committee on general matters or information not specifically addressed in other items in this.

Discussion

Wairoa/Haumoana Flood Event June 2024

2. On 24 June the MetService issued an Orange weather warning for heavy rain for parts of Hawke’s Bay over 25-26 June. At 1pm on 25 June an update and coordination meeting was held by the Group Controller with council local controllers and the emergency services. It was evident from that meeting that a number of precautionary activities were taking place across the Group including pre-positioning of staff and resources and contacting traditionally vulnerable communities.

3. During the late evening of 25 June, conditions worsened in Haumoana as the natural gravel berm was eroded by heavy swells and pre-positioned pumps were unable to keep pace with the inundation behind that barrier. At the same time some precautionary self-evacuations had occurred in the Mahia area.

4. In the early hours of 26 June the Group office and staff from HBRC activated the Group Emergency Coordination Centre (GECC) in a supporting mode as a result of the coastal flooding in Haumoana, and shortly thereafter the flooding in Wairoa. Attached is a high-level timeline of events and the final situation report for this event which outlines the actions, in more detail, of responding agencies during the event including the GECC, EOCs and local councils.

5. The key tasks undertaken by the GECC were mainly in coordinating and disseminating information, situational awareness, and support to HDC and WDC Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) and local controllers. The GECC also reported the regional situation to NEMA.

6. Support to Wairoa was particularly challenging with the closure of SH2 and weather conditions during 26 June. The GECC coordinated the deployment of surge staff from other Groups and Hawke’s Bay councils into the Wairoa EOC from the north.

7. As the response matured and HDC terminated its state of emergency, Group office staff were able to be directly deployed into Wairoa to support the local EOC and transition to recovery. The last of the Group office staff returned from Wairoa on 12 July and support continues remotely.

8. It was particularly pleasing to see the deployment of council staff from across the region to support Wairoa District Council both to the EOC and in support of their business as usual/Lifeline activities. This is experience which will only serve to strengthen the overall Hawke’s Bay emergency management system.

9. The Group office has begun the process of an after-action review both at an operational level for the GECC and from a wider perspective with the local controllers and partner agencies.

10. It is intended the results of the after-action review will be reported to CEG at its next meeting.

Exercise Rū Whenua

11. Exercise Rū Whenua was a one-day national exercise held on 12 June, aimed at exercising the National Coordination Centre. The scenario was based on a rupture of the Alpine Fault in the South Island and as such most of the North Island CDEM groups only played a supporting role. The Group Office staff supported the exercise based on the planned Hawke’s Bay CDEM role for a rupture of the Alpine Fault. Individual agencies may have been involved through their national offices.

12. The key matters of consideration for the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group in this scenario include:

12.1. establishing a Reception and Departure Centre at the airport for displaced people

12.2. providing logistics support to the South Island through the port of Napier

12.3. identifying regionally critical resources, especially in the event of a concurrent regional emergency

12.4. assessing surge staff capacity from Hawke’s Bay to support affected areas.

13. This scenario and impacts will be used in a number of desk top discussions at future Emergency Services Coordination Committee, Welfare Advisory Group and Lifelines meetings. It is suggested that this would also be useful for the CEG and Joint Committee at a future meeting.

Exercise Whakarauora Tangata

14. This exercise was held in the GECC in Hastings on 23 May. This was a NZ Search and Rescue led Incident Management Team (IMT) exercise. The scenario was based on a boutique cruise ship with 256 passengers and crew being abandoned in adverse sea and weather conditions off the Cape Kidnappers coastline. This was recognised as a Nationally Significant Mass Rescue event involving mass casualties and fatalities.

15. The response was managed by Rescue Coordination Centre NZ, with Police supporting as the on-scene coordinator and responsible for the reconciliation and subsequent welfare of passengers and crew. The exercise involved 22 Search and Rescue sector and partner agencies across the Hawke’s Bay and Wellington regions.

16. The CDEM Group supported this exercise by enabling the use of the GECC facility and providing staff to support the Police IMT especially in the welfare function area.

17. Overall the evaluation found the exercise was successful with a number of lessons identified. The evaluators concluded that the GECC provided a very good facility to operate from, although the ongoing issue of an interagency common operating platform remains a significant issue to be addressed at a national level.

Financial Update

18. Currently the Group budgets are trending towards an underspend at the end of the FY of ~$802,774.

19. Most of this underspend is as a result of underestimating the amount of money that would be recovered from the Government as part of the Group’s claim for the reimbursement of Cyclone Gabrielle welfare costs in the 23/24 FY. However this was offset in part due to increased operational readiness costs which were primarily made up of an unbudgeted increase in the rent for the GECC building, and increased costs towards the Cyclone Gabrielle Review.

20. Once confirmed at the end of July, the resulting underspend will be off set against the CDEM reserve to help manage the deficit moving forward.

21. The final result will be reported to the next Committee meeting.

LTP 2024

22. The additional funding requested by the Group to HBRC as part of the 2024 LTP has now been adopted. This puts in place the funding to enable any changes and corrective actions from the Cyclone Gabrielle reviews.

Group Office staffing and capability

23. Currently the Group office is at full strength with staff retention continuing to be high over the last 12 months. The staff who commenced after Cyclone Gabrielle have progressed well and the current experience levels are good.

24. The only issue is the continual monitoring of workloads and leave balances. A number of staff have or are taking good periods of leave over the next few months.

25. The activation of the GECC over the recent flooding events in Haumoana and Wairoa has meant a number of staff required standdown periods and this will impact on project timelines moving forward.

CDEM Group Manager’s report on recommendations of the Government Inquiry into the response to the 2023 North Island Severe Weather Events (NISWE)

26. DPMC requested that the CDEM Group Managers provide feedback on the recommendations of the Government Enquiry into the NISWE which was released at the end of April. The timeframe was very tight and as such all 16 Group Managers held a workshop to formulate a collective response under the Regional CDEM Special Interest Group (SIG). The SIG is a regional sector initiative under the Regional CEOs.

27. The workshop report is attached to this paper. The themes from the paper reflect a number of issues raised by the Hawke’s Bay Group in the past through letters to NEMA, submissions to the Emergency Management Bill and as identified in the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Cyclone Gabrielle Response Review report.

28. DPMC have advised that a Cabinet paper on the proposed Government response to the NISWE is scheduled to be presented in September/October.

29. This workshop report is for the information of Committee. However, as there is likely to be further discussions with NEMA and DPMC with regard to the Government’s response to the Government Inquiry, staff would welcome any views from the Joint Committee to guide further work in this area.

Decision-making considerations

30. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee receives and notes the HB CDEM Group Controller/ Manager update staff report.

Authored & Approved by:

Ian Macdonald

HB CDEM Group Controller / Manager

Attachment/s

1 ⇩	HBCDEM June 2024 flooding timeline
2 ⇨	HBCDEM June 2024 Flooding Situation Report 12 July 2024	Under Separate Cover
3 ⇨	CDEM SIG May 2024 Workshop Report for DPMC	Under Separate Cover

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

29 July 2024

Subject: HB CDEM Group Work Programme update

Reason for report

1. This item gives the Joint Committee an update on the current Group Work Programme and provides an opportunity for a discussion on priorities. Attached is a dashboard and commentary on projects for the projects directly managed by the Group office.

2. Also attached to this report are updates from Hastings, Wairoa and Central Hawke’s Bay District councils, and Napier City Council as they relate to supporting and achieving the outcomes of the Group Work Programme.

3. Due to recent emergency events a full report was not received, however a summary is attached for work undertaken in Wairoa District over the last quarter.

Background

4. The Group Work Programme for 2022-23 and 2023-24 was approved in November 2022. This can be found on the Group webpage at Group Work Programme 2022-24.

5. While this Work Programme is now due for review, after discussions with the Coordinating Executive Group (CEG) it was thought appropriate to wait until the appointment of the Cyclone Gabrielle review implementation coordinator before any significant review of the work programme occurs.

6. From an initial analysis of the Cyclone Gabrielle review, the current work programme is generally consistent with the findings and there is some initial analysis of this in the discussion following.

Discussion

7. Attached to this report are the Tier One: Priority Recommendations as identified in the Cyclone Gabrielle Review Report, grouped into the 4Rs.

8. As mentioned, the majority of the current Work Programme is aligned with at least one of these recommendations. However there are a number of gaps beyond the existing work programme, and there is considerable additional work which will require analysis, prioritisation and resourcing.

9. Work has commenced to identify this as part of developing a Review Implementation and Change Programme. This is dependant largely on the appointment of the Cyclone Gabrielle review implementation coordinator by the CEG. Recommendations in the review report will cut across all the councils and a number of agencies.

10. The Cyclone Gabrielle Review report identified urgent and important recommendations and at a high level the following is some commentary as to how the current work programme is aligned with these.

Recommendation 1. Develop, implement and communicate a regional Disaster Reduction Plan in partnership with local partners and communities.

11. This recommendation and associated actions are broad and will require a coordinated multidisciplinary approach across agencies and the community. In the meantime there are elements of work to achieve this in risk reduction and the Community HUB development and implementation work as shown in the attachments to this report.

Recommendation 3. Develop, implement and communicate a regional Disaster Readiness Plan in partnership with local partners and communities.

12. This is a very wide area of work. However, the collaborative work between Group office, agency partners and council staff on developing and implementing the Community HUB model is making good progress in this area.

13. In relation to a Disaster Readiness Plan, the interface between a regional and national disaster needs to be explored further especially given Cyclone Gabrielle was a national disaster. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is currently developing a National Catastrophic Event Plan and any future regional work in readiness planning will need to be consistent with this. Whatever the outcome of the national process, the Group will need to further develop and operationalise a regional readiness plan.

Recommendation 5. Develop a plan for more regular scenario development, training and exercising in conjunction with a wide range of partner entities, including iwi Māori and communities.

14. Within the current work programme, efforts in operational workforce capability and community HUBs are consistent with and contribute to outcomes in this area.

15. Work with iwi/Māori continues to be a challenge due to a current lack of resourcing and expertise. This is intended to be addressed as part of additional funding approved by the LTP and some preparation work has commenced.

16. As identified in the Group Manager update report, there has been some significant work with individual marae in parts of the region.

Recommendation 6: Various Readiness Actions

17. Recommendation 6 and associated actions is quite broad and contains a number of sub-recommendations. A number of these are likely to require national guidance and tools. However, the current work being done on the following common systems align to this recommendation including:

17.1. a comprehensive needs assessment tool

17.2. an incident management and information system

17.3. further development of regional situational awareness tool.

18. Capability development through the improvement of the training framework and delivery of common training across the Group, partner agencies and the community is also an important part of achieving the outcomes from this recommendation and has been a focus for the last 12 months.

19. Other relevant work includes increasing the capacity and redundancy for issuing Emergency Mobile Alerts and improving/developing emergency communications with community HUBs. This work is well advanced.

Conclusions

20. Analysing and identifying the corrective actions and resulting work programmes for various reviews into Cyclone Gabrielle will be a significant piece of work to be developed and undertaken by the CEG. There is also an interface with the national system and changes currently being developed by the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (DPMC) and NEMA in response to the North Island Severe Weather Events Inquiry. A Cabinet paper with recommended responses to the Government Inquiry is programmed for September/ October this year.

21. In the meantime, the Group office, councils and partner agencies will continue to implement the work programme in alignment with the likely corrective actions from these reviews.

Decision-making considerations

22. Staff have assessed the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to this item and have concluded that, as this report is for information only, the decision-making provisions do not apply.

Recommendation

That the HB CDEM Group Joint Committee receives and notes the HB CDEM Group Work Programme update staff report.

Authored & Approved by:

Ian Macdonald

HB CDEM Group Controller / Manager

Attachment/s

1 ⇨	Governance Monitoring Programme Status Dashboard as at 30 June 24	Under Separate Cover
2 ⇩	CHB DC activity summary July 2024
3 ⇩	HDC activity summary July 2024
4 ⇩	NCC activity summary July 2024
5 ⇩	WDC activity summary July 2024
6 ⇩	Cyclone Gabrielle Tier 1 Priority Recommendations by 4Rs

HB CDEM Group Joint Committee

29 July 2024

Subject: Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes

That the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Joint Committee excludes the public from this section of the meeting being Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes Agenda Item 9 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

s7(2)(f)(ii) Excluding the public is necessary to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs by protecting councillors and/or council employees and contractors/ consultants from improper pressure or harassment

s7(2)(a) Excluding the public 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.

Authored by:

Leeanne Hooper

Team Leader Governance

Approved by:

Desiree Cull

Strategy & Governance Manager