Please find below this week’s media advisory notes.

EARTHQUAKE AND SEVERE WEATHER EVENT PUT EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS TO THE TEST

This week’s earthquake and severe weather events are a reminder to us all that you can never be too prepared in an emergency.

Mayor K Gurunathan says the Kāpiti Coast community responded well to the earthquake events during the early hours of Monday morning.

“It is times like these when emergency preparedness comes to the fore and I congratulate everyone that took action, especially those living in low lying beach areas who applied the general rule of thumb that if you feel a long or strong earthquake head to higher ground immediately.”

Kāpiti Coast District Council’s Emergency Operations Centre swung into action as fast as it could and staff worked through the night to assess and respond to the situation as events unfolded.

“This was a true test of all the work our response teams have put into preparing for a large earthquake event but our work is not over yet with aftershocks continuing and the unsavoury weather causing further disruption,” says Mayor Gurunathan.

“We know we have some work to do to ensure people know what to do and where to access information in an emergency and we will be working with our partner organisations to improve this.

“This includes having another look at whether tsunami warning sirens are a good option for us once we’ve recovered from today’s weather events.”

MAHARA GALLERY UPGRADE REMAINS FIRMLY IN THE COUNCIL’S SIGHTS (photo attached)

Plans to upgrade the Mahara Gallery are still firmly in the Kāpiti Coast District Council’s sights following the signing of an agreement between the Council, the Mahara Gallery Trust and the Field Collection Trust.

Mayor K Gurunathan says the Council has made provision to partially fund the upgrade of the Mahara Gallery in its Long term plan.

“The Mahara Gallery is the Kāpiti Coast’s public gallery and our plans to transform and improve the Waikanae town centre and upgrade the Waikanae Library recognise the importance of having a public gallery in Kāpiti.”

The Council has been working with the Mahara Gallery Trust and Field Collection Trust to achieve the upgrade of the gallery since 2009.

At the same time the Council has been exploring opportunities to create a shared gallery and library facility as part of its work to transform and improve the Waikanae town centre.

“Both the Library and Gallery are important community assets and we are committed to providing a high quality venue that will enable the Mahara Gallery to display the Field Collection and realise its visitor attraction potential,” Mayor Gurunathan said.

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