Emergency and armed services open day

On Saturday the 20th, the combined emergency and armed services open day was held at Manfield in Feilding. This was an excellent opportunity for the services to demonstrate their capability to the public for free.

Displays by Police, Fire, St John, Air Force, Army, Coastguard, Helipro and the Square Trust rescue helicopter, PNCC civil defence, neighbourhood support and the CDEM Group made it an interesting collection of capabilities and 'toys' to look at. A variety of central demonstrations were also carried out in the middle of the arena during the day.

The PNCC team focus was on their REST capability and survival items whereas the Group's airshelter display was adapted to present flood protection works for the Makino Stream in Feilding. Evan Lloyd is pictured discussing the Makino Diversion Structure with a local resident.

A huge congratulations to the organising team for pulling off such a great day.

There's a lot going on...

Things have been very busy in the Emergency Management Office this month. Here are a few of the things we've been up to:

• Tararua A&P Show was a couple of weekends ago. Good crowds on the Saturday despite the very hot weather. Some of the team cooked in the AirShelter - so much so we went and hired an aircon unit.
• Ruapehu A&P Show last weekend. We took the display up to Taumarunui and set it up for Annie and her team to staff on the Saturday.
• This weekend we have the Emergency and Armed Services Open Day in Feilding - a different display for this one, focus on the Reid Line spillway. This is a local flood protection structure.
• We've got all of our ducks in a row for Central Districts Field Days in March so its just a matter of showing up for the event.
• AEGIS Map is now open to a select few for testing and proof of concept. We're keeping a close eye on E-sponder and the EMIS project too.
• Navigation safety risk assessments for the Whanganui River are underway along with a review of the bylaws on the Manawatu River
• The EOC in Marton has been gutted for library renovations and a temporary facility has been established in the rural fire depot.
• Welfare Centre kits have been assembled and are being delivered in the next week or two to our Centres.
• The Triennial Business Plan is being worked on.
• Preparations are underway for the Controller's Forum on 1 March and the Conferenz conference next week.
• Neighbourhood Support meetings are happening across Manawatu in conjunction with other services.
• Monitoring and evaluation interviews with MCDEM staff are happening next week too.

All-in-all, there's enough to keep our minds occupied. We've been lucky with a lack of big events to derail our projects.