After about a year in construction, the region’s new purpose-built Emergency Co-ordination Centre located beside the Hastings District Council civic building on Lyndon Rd East was officially opened today.

The need to replace the existing building with one that was more fit for purpose was identified about two years ago, and the Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group worked closely together on the design of the new future-proofed Importance Level 4 (IL4) facility.

Its IL4 rating means it is able to withstand a one in 2500 year seismic event, and the completed building is flexible, modular, safe and scalable so it can be tailored for specific incidents to ensure effective response to, and recovery from, emergencies.

As well as becoming the control centre for agencies in times of emergency, the building is also the new base for the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group team.

Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare attended the opening and said he was there to support the work being done by the council and the community to ensure this facility was available for the region.

“Local Government, like Central Government, takes the safety of our people very seriously – we need to ensure process does not supercede people, that we keep people at the heart of any emergency response – this building is testament to such work that’s being done locally.”

As well as all the agencies involved in Civil Defence in the region, he also acknowledged the volunteers who came forward in times of emergency.

Simkin Construction was the main contractor for the build and general manager Henry Botha said the company was extremely proud to be part of the project.

“The end product is something is something we can all being proud – and the council team has been excellent to work with.”

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management group manager Ian Macdonald said the group was really happy with the new facility.

“It not only gives us all the room and up-to-date technology we need to respond to emergencies in our region, but is also a great space to carry out our day-to-day work,” he said.

“We’d like to thank Hastings District Council for all their support in building Hawke’s Bay’s new Group Emergency Coordination Centre.”

ENDS

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