West Coast fuel resilience project ramps up
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A nearly $300,000 resilience project to ensure the West Coast is strategically connected in the event of a full-scale civil defence emergency is ramping up.
West Coast Emergency Management group manager Claire Brown told the West Coast Emergency Management Joint Committee this week substantial work has progressed around the fuel aspect of the wider resilience project, which also aims to set up an alternative communication project.
The project was funded by NEMA earlier in the year.
Brown said they were at the stage of developing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with up to 30 of the region's fuel stations to ensure their strategic role in any future event.
This included ensuring petrol stations had access to a back up power supply "and an understanding of Civil Defence and its role".
This was to enable the utilisation of critical fuel supplies in an emergency.
Brown said the intended memorandum was a "unique" cross-sector arrangement, the first of its kind in the country.
It would include ensuring fuel stations had the appropriate wiring in place in order to hook up to portable generators for power supply, or had accessed provision through the resilience fund for a generator.
"I think we have identified this as a key issue for us accessing fuel."
However, that was only one element of the broader project, which has a two year rollout, Brown said.
More broadly, a South Island group had been initiated to collaborate in the design of a high frequency radio network.
Meanwhile, the West Coast councils' chief executives group had endorsed progression of two funding proposal topics for next year's NEMA funding round.
These were a 'kit me' household preparedness web based resource, as part of a national rollout, and alternate emergency operations centre/emergency control centre emergency equipment cache - with early discussion with the region's runanga regarding the location of emergency equipment at marae.
This was due to be submitted by early next year.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.8% Summer
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36.7% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
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