In an Emergency - call 111
If there is an immediate risk to lives or property then you should call the Emergency Services
Why a Community Hub
The purpose of the Community Hub is to help prepare all of us for an emergency at to support the natural support for each other should there be a need. Earthquake, floods, slips and fires can cut road access and leave us isolated. Power or water supplies and communication systems may be disrupted, so we need to be ready to work cooperatively to get through the best we can. The Hub is to provide a focal point for us to meet, share experiences and resources so that we can harness the power of our people.
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The 3 levels of preparedness
Each Household - prepared
Your first priority is yourself and those close to you. Having a plan for an emergency is a great start which will naturally lead you to gather a set of resources to help in the first few hours and days, should the worst happen. You can find all the information you need to be ready on the Canterbury Civil Defence Home Ready Page
Each Neighbourhood Group
connected and ready
There are approximately 25 local groups each consisting of 8 to 12 homes who have a communication plan (WhatsApp or Phone Tree). The people best placed to help you in the first instance are those in close proximity.
Our Community Hub - prepared to activate and support the community
The Community Hub will be activated during an emergency or as soon after as it is safe to do so. One or more members of the Community Hub Team and/or the GBCA Committee will open the doors and put the jug on.
What will the Community Hub do?
People first
First and foremost we will be there a real people listening to what you have to report. simple conversations will help build the picture across Governors Bay. Hearing how others are doing and how they are solving problems is always going to be helpful. THe wisdom the crowd is very powerful and solutios will be arrived at for what seemed initally to be challenges too big to solve. We will all realise that we are not alone. A cup of team or coffee and perhaps a biscuit will help us all. It's not all tea and biscuits, there will be problems to solve and people to help.
Sharing skills and resources
Where Neighbourhood groups have not been able to resolve somehting, or need some resources, then that is where the Hub can be a point of sharing of skills and important stuff. One group may have solar or battery energy to power a few freezers and another may have a capable team with a trailer to move freezers. There will be many other similar things like that.
Communication
Knowing what is going on elsewhere is important as is being able to communicate with loved ones elsewhere. We have hand held radios and will be able to speak with the hubs around the harbour and through them to the City Council Civil Defence Team. They may not be able to respond immediately but they do need the information ont he ground to prioritise their work.
We expect to have power - certainly enough to charge your cell phone - useful if there is internet. In future we hope to have a secure connection to the internet - perhaps satellite - but this is not yet in place. We recognise how important it is to let far flung family know how we are and that will be one of our aims.
Information
We will aim to keep an updated picture of what is happening and if necessary hold planned briefing sessions which would be notified to the Neighbourhood coordinators. In the case of Fire, for example, they might be provided by the Fire Service. We do want to avoid people going to the Fire Station for information - as has happened in the past - they have their urgent work to get on with.
Neighbourhood Groups
It starts with neighbours
Governors Bay has always looked after itself. During the earthquakes, the Port Hills fires and major storms, the first people to help were not strangers arriving from elsewhere. They were neighbours checking on neighbours, sharing information, lending equipment, offering practical help and solving problems together. That is exactly what this project is about.
Over the past year Neighbourhood Groups have formed naturally across the Bay using WhatsApp/phone etc. Many households are already connected into one of these groups. That is a great start. Now we'd like to take the next step.
Why neighbourhoods matter
You will have heard about the high fire risk in the coming summer due to El Nino, something each household, and the community as a whole needs to be prepared for. As well as fire there are still the other long term threats such as the overdue major alpine fault earthquake (AF8). CDEM is working on Tsunami preparedness and you will hear more from them on this.
The people best placed to help you in those first hours and days are usually the people who live closest to you. Forming ourselves into groups of households as “Neighbourhood Groups” will set us up to work together.
A neighbourhood group doesn't need to be formal.
It might simply be a dozen or so nearby households who know one another, have a way of communicating, and have talked about how they would help each other if something happened.
Most problems can be solved at a Neighbourhood Group level.
The Community Hub exists to support The Neighbourhood Groups, not replace them. If a neighbourhood needs additional information, resources or help, the Hub can connect people and coordinate across the wider community.
Now is the time to renew and strengthen our connections to neighbours. The Community hub can then work with Neighbourhood Groups to prepare and be ready to help coordinate the community response