Our LACs have met face to face for the first time

A significant milestone was reached this week, with the completion of the first face to face meetings of our seven Local Advisory Committees (LACs).

The committees were established in June 2020 on the West Coast, in Northland, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, Chatham Islands and Otago. During September and October they met in their own areas for a day of induction and their first official meeting. 

The LACs were joined by local and regional Fire and Emergency teams, with whom they will work in partnership.  The sessions were coordinated by members of the Fire and Emergency Local Advisory Committee team, who are responsible for supporting the committees.

Led and supported by Piki Thomas and the regional Pou Takawaenga, the LACs spent one of their meeting days on a local marae, which provided an opportunity to acknowledge mana whenua and to meet representatives of local iwi or hapū.

National Manager, Local Advisory Committees, Lucy Chamberlain said the meetings went really well and it was great to see all the hard work that had gone into setting up the committees coming to life.

“LACs are responsible for providing strategic advice from a local perspective to Fire and Emergency. The committees are made up of well-connected local people who are passionate about supporting their communities. After these first meetings, members are keen to begin building relationships and helping their communities understand the Committees’ role.

“During the meetings, we covered who Fire and Emergency is, what we do, and how we operate. We also worked with the committees to identify relevant community contacts and how they will engage, and to create an annual work programme based on the Fire and Emergency Board’s expectations.”

Lucy said the committees will provide advice directly to the Board and will work with a wide range of people, including Fire and Emergency’s regional teams, to understand their communities’ particular risks, needs and values.

“LACs do not have an operational role.  Fire and Emergency management is still responsible for local planning and decisions about how it will operate locally.

“They will provide us with connections we may not currently have. This will help Fire and Emergency in its risk identification as well as helping us take our risk reduction messages further into communities. Every local area is different, and each LAC will work out how they will engage with their local community, with support from the local and national Fire and Emergency teams.

“The next step will be for LACs to provide their workplans to the Board for their review and approval in October.”

Read more about the first face-to-face meeting of our seven Local Advisory Committee chairs.

Read more about LACs on our website(external link).

Otago	Marlborough
Hawke's Bay	Chatham Islands
Northland	Tairawhiti
West Coast