From the Mayor

I recently attended two public events in Martinborough.  Both related to important community matters and both were notable for the lack of attendance.

The first one was hosted by the Local Government Commission and its purpose was to update the community on progress towards the reorganisation of the four Councils that govern Wairarapa.  About twenty members of the public attended and it’s fair to say that those who were present asked great questions and made their opinions known.  It’s just a shame that their wasn’t a bigger attendance.
 
The second was organised by the region’s civil defence organisation and aimed at ensuring we have a coherent community plan in the event of any major emergency.  Unfortunately the turnout for this was even fewer with only two members of the public feeling the need to be involved.  I’m not sure if people just didn’t know  or had more pressing things to do on a Sunday but somehow we need to get better involvement than this.
 
The Christchurch earthquakes highlighted that there simply is not enough official resource to manage, fix or care for every situation in a major emergency.  Communities must stand alone for days and sometimes weeks.  To do this we need to know where our resources are and who can do what.
 
The Community Response Plans for each town are work in progress led by the Wellington Region Emergency Management Organisation.  It would be really great if there could be more public input as this work comes together.