Kia ora koutou
Today Mayor Jamie has agreed to extend the local transition period for Westport under s94D of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002. Notice of extension of local transition period for Westport – 26.11.21
This is following advice from the Recovery team that we consider there remains a need to manage, coordinate and direct recovery activities as a result of the Westport flood, and that this is both in the public interest and necessary to ensure a timely and effective recovery.
Temporary Accommodation Service is currently supporting 102 households displaced by the flood. 51 of these are still in motel/hotel/campground accommodation, and there are others living on their own properties with limited access to kitchen and/or bathroom facilities. Welfare and psycho-social issues are presenting, and we are mindful of the challenges of shared kitchen and bathroom facilities should Covid-19 be found in our community.
Significant work is currently underway on providing temporary accommodation solutions that better meet the welfare needs of our displaced residents, with planning for additional work in the near future. It is highly likely that the transition powers will be needed over the coming weeks to carry out works to enable these temporary accommodation solutions to progress in a timely way.
For these reasons we consider it is in the public interest to extend the transition period, and that doing so is necessary to ensure a timely and effective recovery.
Ngā mihi