Event clash means mayors may miss emergency training

Mayors are being called to a Local Government NZ event in Rotorua on the same day Aotearoa braces for a mock tsunami.

Horizons Regional Council was last week made aware by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of exercise "Pacific Wave", a national tsunami training event to test Aotearoa's preparedness in an emergency. It is scheduled for October 14.

It's the same day prominent figures across the local government sector would be gathered in Rotorua at Local Government New Zealand's (LGNZ)'s annual two-day "SuperLocal" event, which was announced in April.

Both NEMA and LGNZ told Local Democracy Reporting this week the events wouldn't change dates.

Five of the region's mayors were present when Pacific Wave was announced to Horizons' Manawatū-Whanganui civil defence emergency management group's joint standing committee last Tuesday.

Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson immediately questioned whether NEMA had deliberately double-booked local government officials across the country.

A NEMA official in the room told Watson it wasn't deliberate and he believed this was the first time the clash had been raised.

During October's tsunami exercise "you will find every mayor in the country in Rotorua", Watson said.

"What are the implications around that?

"Half the mayors in New Zealand are new – to take part in these things is important."

Scott Gilmore, first-term mayor of the semi-coastal Tararua District, was also present at the meeting.

The last NEMA event focused on a tsunami was in 2016. It was only two days before a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck in the early hours of September 2, 2016 causing small tsunami waves to reach the East Coast.

Watson said he was concerned deputising the mayor, deputy mayor and chief executive role during such localised training could create unneeded stress on the ground and cause officials to miss out.

Following the meeting, Horizons was informed NEMA wouldn't change dates after the joint standing committee sent a letter supporting a shift.

Horizons chairwoman Nikki Riley said, "Emergencies stop for no one, so a clash like this could happen in real life."

She said she had "full faith" in the abilities of those who would take leadership in the absence of elected officials.

A NEMA spokesperson shared a similar sentiment, noting it was "rarely possible" to avoid clashes when planning an event of this scale and it provided local teams with opportunity to respond to an emergency without their usual leaders present.

Of the 78 councils across the motū, only seven weren't a part of LGNZ, a national council consisting of Aotearoa's mayors, deputies and elected officials.

SuperLocal 2025 brought together more than 700 local government professionals in Christchurch last July.