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VALUES IN ACTION
Partnership in action
Civil Emergency in Tauranga
On 18
th
May 2005, City Care's Northern Region faced its first civil
emergency when the Bay of Plenty experienced a major flooding
event. The Tauranga City Council Emergency Response Plan
identifies the City Care office as the event centre for stormwater
emergencies of Level 3 and above. On May 18
th
this event
centre began dealing with water and wastewater-related calls.
As the event escalated to a Level 4 State of Civil Emergency,
Tauranga City Council roading engineers moved in and City
Care became the call centre for all water and roading service
requests. This worked effectively as, given the nature of the
event, the roading and water and wastewater problems were
inter-related.
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS
City Care staff from New Plymouth and Auckland were called in
to help on the first day once the extent of the emergency was
apparent and they stayed for 3 days to assist with the response
operation which continued non-stop for the 72-hour period. When
the power went out a portable generator kept the phones and
computers working.
Tauranga City Council's Head of Stormwater, John Palmer says
that TCC was very pleased with the way City Care stepped up
quickly to respond to the emergency and brought in additional
resources. John notes that many people rang to say how grateful
they were at how quickly City Care was able to respond to
their requests for sandbags to help prevent water from flooding
their properties. According to John, the City Care staff showed
dedication in what was a very difficult situation.
John considers that the partnering relationship between TCC
and City Care enabled everyone to work together cooperatively
to respond to requests for help from the public. He says it was
not a case of "them and us" but of both Council and City Care
staff sharing knowledge and resources. Both parties supported
each other to meet the customers' requirements, particularly with
critical communications systems stretched to their limits.
Previously the Tauranga branch's busiest time had been receiving
60 request for service calls in 6 hours. During the flooding, the
branch handled 650 requests for service over the first 8 hour
period. The crews made 4,500 sandbags in 5 hours and worked
with other rescue crews placing the sandbags to help contain the
flooding, pumping out water, and replacing dislodged manholes.
A large slip on Mount Maunganui took out of action a 250mm
diameter watermain leaving residents of the Mount Maunganui-
Papamoa area with low water pressure. The slip on Mount
Maunganui had also destroyed a walking track that City Care
was commissioned to restore. This project involved the whole
Tauranga branch, including the Pre-Apprentices, who played
an important role. The restoration necessitated large-scale
earthworks and material and equipment had to be brought to the
site by sea using a barge.
The event was closed in the 3
rd
week of June. During the period,
the branch's work output was double its normal level with both
field and management staff putting in many extra hours.
The key to our success is positive client relationships.
· In everything we do we consider the impact this will
have on our customers.
· We develop and maintain close personal contact with
our key clients so that we are better informed.
· We help customers to understand our business.
· We listen to our customers to seek out their current
and future needs and tailor our services accordingly.
· We rapidly resolve customer complaints.
