Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s Board has announced two new local advisory committees for Bay of Plenty and Manawatū-Whanganui and appointed their members.

Local advisory committees (LACs) are independent committees around New Zealand which provide advice with a strong local perspective to help Fire and Emergency understand communities’ needs and engage with them effectively.

"Ngā komiti tohutohu ā-rohe local advisory committees help us better support communities to reduce risk, prepare for and respond to emergencies, and recover quickly when they happen," Lucy Chamberlain, National Manager, Local Advisory Committees says.

"These two new committees’ first tasks will be to plan how to best engage and seek feedback from people and groups across their community about local needs. Engagement is expected to get underway in early 2025."

Eleven LACs have already been established, in Northland, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Marlborough, Nelson-Tasman, West Coast, Chatham Islands, Southland and Otago.

Fire and Emergency is currently working to establish the Auckland LAC, with decisions expected before March 2025. Planning is underway to establish the Wellington and Canterbury LACs in the first half of 2025. This will conclude the national implementation.

The two new local advisory committees in Bay of Plenty and Manawatū-Whanganui will comprise eight members each, covering a cross section of both communities.

New local advisory committee appointments for Bay of Plenty and Whanganui-Manawatū

Bay of Plenty: Soifua Pearson (Chair), Te Rika Tamara-Benfell (Deputy Chair), Sam Fellows, Clinton Naude, Mike Chapman, Georgia Mischefski-Gray, Jay Bocock, Carey Urlich.

Manawatū-Whanganui: Materoa Mar (Chair), Stefan Speller (Deputy Chair), Ross Brannigan, Bonnie Kuru-Whatuira (Brown), Paul Patel, Paul Sharland, Amy Valentine, Graeme Spiers.

Full profiles for each LAC member can be found on Fire and Emergency’s website.

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