Officially underway, with Skye Moore as Program Manager, is the Regional Disaster Preparedness Program. This exciting new project brings with it many opportunities for Hunter Councils.
The Regional Disaster Preparedness Program is a 2-year initiative funded by the NSW Government which will be managed jointly through Resilience NSW and Hunter Joint Org.
The aim of the Program is to initiate and implement projects that create improved local government and community resilience in preparation for, response to and recovery from emergencies. This Program is one of three pilots that will be formally evaluated with a view to implementing the initiative more broadly and permanently. Each pilot has a Regional Disaster Preparedness Officer (RDPO) and project funding, to assist in developing and implementing the projects.
The Program Areas include:
- Emergency management training
- Development of local and regional recovery plans
- Establishment of community resilience networks
- Integration of Council BCPs with local emergency management arrangements
- Local and regional risk assessments
- Get Ready for Disasters program (community and business)
- Emergency Dashboards
Over the last couple of months the Hunter JO has been working with and assisting Councils across the region to better understand the emergency management framework and to bolster their disaster risk reduction strategies. This includes linking Councils in with a range of disaster recovery, resilience and climate change projects and looking for synergies and partnership opportunities. Thanks to all those who have been involved, we hope more of you will be involved soon too!
Elton Consulting has been engaged to undertake an independent review of the Regional Disaster Preparedness Program and once we have their report we can share via our website and send out a notification.
As many of you would know the Central Coast Council has also experienced a recent coastal erosion event and Skye Moore has been assisting with the community recovery efforts. Being able to support this situation and in other Hunter based events which may arise by having someone on board at the Hunter JO who is capable of such needed guidance has been a great leap forward for us all.
To make contact with Skye Moore or be involved with very timely program given the range of disasters the region has been facing in recent times please email skye.moore@justice.nsw.gov.au or 02 4978 4022.