Issue 43
September 2016
Connecting Communities
Welcome to the September issue of the Neighbourhood
Support Community Newsletter. With the bad weather that
affected a number of communities during August, it is a
timely reminder to look at emergency management in
your communities.
When weather like this strikes how do you respond? Do
you have a family plan for coping when the power is off?
How do you keep warm and dry? More importantly, how
would you cope if you had no power for a longer period
(say 12 or 36 hours)?
In This Issue

Civil Defence—are you
prepared?

Extended Library Hours

We take a look at the new
Red Cross Hazard App

SNAP— what is it?

Safer Communities Update
In an emergency you need to be able to take care of
yourself and your family. In most emergencies you should
be able to stay in your home. Plan to be able to look after
yourself and your household for at least three days or
more. Assemble and maintain your emergency survival
items for your home as well as a portable getaway kit in
case you have to leave in a hurry. You should also have
essential emergency items in your workplace and in your
car.
Are you prepared?
Emergency Survival Kit
When bad weather
strikes how do you
respond?
Do you have a family
plan for coping when
the power is off ?
Safer Communities Together
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
A resilient community is one which expects and prepares well for adverse events,
so they can cope well with the disruption and return to normal as quickly as
possible. Everyone has a role to play in creating a resilient community.
Connecting Communities
Extended Library
Hours
Your community, your response: a community-driven
response plan sets out a community’s plan for how they
will respond to an emergency.
What a community-driven response plan covers
The plan covers the priority goals of the community
within the first 72 hours of a large-scale emergency. This
includes:

the resources (both social and physical) the community has available
 potential vulnerabilities within the community
 the roles and responsibilities of the agencies and organisations involved during an emergency.
Updating the plan
A community-driven response plan is a living document
– it must be reviewed regularly to ensure it is current,
and it should be exercised. A plan may include tasks to
be undertaken between updates to improve preparedness, increase connections, build capacity and foster cooperation.
Take part
If you’d like to be part of a community-driven response
planning process please contact Hawkes Bay Emergency
Management via email: [email protected]
Safer Communities Together
To increase community access to library services, including internet, meeting
and study space, information and recreational
reading, Hastings District
Libraries have extended
opening hours at all three
sites.
The new closing time of
6pm Mon-Fri in Hastings,
Flaxmere and Havelock
North Libraries will mean an
extra 10 hours of opening a
week across the district,
and comes at no extra cost
to ratepayers.
An 8.00pm Tuesday closing
will remain in the Hastings
War Memorial Library and
weekend hours are not
changed.
Come in and talk to us
about our free Internet and
Wifi Access.
Red Cross Hazard App
There is a new app for your smart phone that will keep you informed of the really important messages in an emergency.
Be prepared to help yourself, family and friends
In New Zealand we know disasters can strike anytime, anywhere and affect anyone. The
Hazard App is a free, comprehensive and convenient way to be ready for emergencies. Being prepared for hazards reduces our vulnerability to them and helps save lives. Educate
and empower yourself, your family and friends to be ready in an emergency.
Identify hazards
The Hazard App can help you identify, prepare for and respond to hazards in New Zealand.
The app is pre-loaded with information about hazards including floods, earthquakes, tsunami, fire, weather and biosecurity risks.
Reduce risk
The app will guide you through preparing an emergency response kit and plan, what to do
during an emergency and give you step-by-step information to help you recover. This preloaded content means you have instant access to all information, even without cell phone
reception or an internet connection – anytime, anywhere.
Stay informed
You will receive alerts from New Zealand's participating alerting authorities via the app.
Alerts are targeted to specific geographic locations. You will have control over the locations, types of hazard and level of alerts that you receive through the app. You’ll only get
alerts for the locations you choose to monitor. You can also choose which hazards you receive alerts for in each location.
The app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play store for Android devices or
from the Apple app store for iOS devices.
For more information go to https://www.redcross.org.nz/what-we-do/in-new-zealand/
disaster-management/hazard-app/
Safer Communities Together
What is SNAP?
SNAP (Serial Number Action Partnership) is an
initiative of the New Zealand Police, aiming to
prevent New Zealand burglary and property
offending, and make it harder for criminals to
sell stolen goods in New Zealand. The initiative
helps to protect property in a number of ways.
The SNAP website (http://www.snap.org.nz)
allows you to enter and maintain details of all
of your important possessions or assets. You
can then access this asset list from anywhere,
anytime. If your items are stolen, you can instantly retrieve your asset list details, and forward these on to the Police and your insurance company.
A range of SNAP Partners are in place, to support the SNAP initiative and ensure its ongoing
success. Various other community and corporate support organisations are also involved
with SNAP to offer supplementary services,
such as DNA forensic property marking, advice
on crime prevention and preventing burglary,
and general crime awareness information.
Together as a New Zealand community, we
can beat burglary and stop the trade in stolen
property!
Safer Communities Update
Beehives are a hot commodity at the
moment. Nationally and locally this
is a huge problem. If you see a
vehicle in your area loading or
carrying beehives, immediately note
down the registration and description of the vehicle and if what you
are observing just does not appear
right, and you believe they are trying
to steal the hives, then please call
111 immediately.
We welcome your
feedback:
Do you have any
items you would like covered
in the monthly newsletter?
Contact Us
John Dawson
Neighbourhood Support
Hastings District Council
Phone: (06) 871 5000
[email protected]
Visit us on the web at:
www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/
community-safety
Safer Communities Together