Newtown and Berhampore Get Prepared

A draft Community-Driven Emergency Response Plan for the Newtown and Berhampore areas has been developed and is ready for wider community input. People living, working or playing in Newtown and Berhampore are invited to feed into the plan on 9th December, 6-8pm, Newtown Park Function Room, Mansfield Street, Newtown.

The draft plan has been created over a series of community meetings initiated by Newtown Residents’ Association and the Newtown Community Centre, with support from Jason Paul of WREMO. Learning from the Christchurch earthquake and the importance of local community resilience over the recovery period, communities across Wellington and New Zealand are taking heed and pulling together plans which will aid a community in looking after itself during the 72 hours following a significant disaster.

Up to 35 different organisations, community groups and institutions have been involved up to this point, including the local primary schools, churches, supermarkets and hospitals. Together, these groups have identified a number of challenges the community may face after a major earthquake and a variety of ways to address these, though they acknowledge a number of gaps still remain. “The individual members of our community have a wealth of knowledge and resources. It’s important that they are part of making this plan as robust as possible, and take ownership of it going forward. This is our plan, and it needs to reflect our community accurately” says Claire Pettigrew, President of the Newtown Residents’ Association.

The meeting on the 9th December will be an opportunity for the wider community to feed into the plan, meet others in their community and share ideas about what can be done to build resilience prior to any disaster. Claire adds, “This is also an occasion to learn about what opportunities there are for creating new and exciting projects for the area, and connecting interested people up. At the end of the day, the more that people know each other in their communities, either by just being neighbours, sharing the same public spaces, or participating in community projects, the easier it will be for everyone to get through.”

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