Taking a break . . . for now

Last day: Tairawhiti Civil Defence Emergency Manager Louise Bennett on her last day at work. Picture by Liam Clayton

Tairawhiti Civil Defence Emergency Manager Louise Bennett talks to Leighton Heikell about her career as Gisborne’s caretaker in an emergency, and why it is time to take a break.

She has been described as empathetic, trustworthy and “bossy, but with a big heart” and Louise Bennett has to be.

She is the Tairawhiti Civil Defence Emergency manager (CDEM) and controller meaning she needs to take the hard line when keeping the community she is responsible for safe and prepared for an emergency.

“I’ve always believed that in my roles, people may not like the message they receive but it is how it is delivered that is really important and I’ve always tried to focus on that,” she says.

But this week marks the end of that, and a 20-year career at the Gisborne District Council working in emergency management and environmental protection.

Mrs Bennett’s career began when she returned to work after raising her three children Philippa, Suzie and Melissa with husband Peter on their farm at the end of Bushy Knoll Road, about an hour and 40 minutes out of town.

She began work as an environmental health officer, dealing with noise complaints, inspections of food premises, dust and air complaints and compliance and monitoring.

But emergency management has been her passion, she says.

Mrs Bennett has been involved in a number of marine oil spill responses, including when the Jody F Millennium ran aground in Gisborne in 2002 which led to 25 tonnes of fuel oil spilling onto surrounding beaches.

Mrs Bennett was involved with the waste team and had to monitor the outcome and recommend whether and when the response should be terminated.

“That was quite a big responsibility to be the one to do that but it was a great learning experience which led to being the waste co-ordinator for the Rena disaster response.”

The Rena disaster occurred off the coast of Tauranga in 2011 when the ship grounded and led to what has been described as New Zealand’s worst maritime environmental disaster.

Mrs Bennett’s role as waste co-ordinator was huge — she was managing a team of locals and contractors and dealing with millions and millions of dollars.

“I had to make sure that I was accountable for the record keeping, the money that we spent and making sure that if we went to court, I had done everything right.”

Following the Rena response, a Government review was organised to look into the response, how it was handled and what could have been different.

The waste planning and subsequent execution was one of the success stories from the response effort and Mrs Bennett was acknowledged for her work.

“To be acknowledged in a Government review as a success was huge for me.”

But Mrs Bennett says her career “high moment” was the successful rescue of a family in the Tolaga Bay floods on Queen’s Birthday last year.

“That event was not forecast in any way and the first we knew of it was at about three o’clock in the morning when they rang to say that they were flooded out.”

A couple and their four-year-old grandchild were caught up in the floods, making a quick escape to their roof as their home began to flood.

“They had to wait for over four hours until daylight until they could be rescued and that was worrying for all of us because we couldn’t contact them.

“They were sitting on a roof not knowing what was going on around them.”

The couple were initially in touch with the council’s after-hours service which contacted Mrs Bennett. She and Tolaga Bay volunteer fire chief Ray Dever decided to organise the ECT Rescue Helicopter.

“We kept telling them that we would come, that we would be there but we knew it wouldn’t be until first light so we were planning to check up on them every half hour but their phone got wet and wouldn’t work.

“So we just had to hope and pray that they would still be there to be rescued.”

And they were, which provided huge relief to Mrs Bennett and her team.

“As a controller you have to look at the ‘what ifs’ of situations like this, and a couple of weeks later I had to look at that and then it came back to me that what if something had gone wrong and what that would have meant . . . it would have devastated me.”

Mrs Bennett has also been involved in the aftermath of earthquakes. Following the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016 she flew down just after the event to assist.

“I was part of the operations team and I was just doing whatever I was told to do, working alongside the welfare and planning teams.”

Mrs Bennett says at the time her family weren’t very happy with her going into disaster areas because they were concerned about aftershocks.

“But the Gisborne area was shaken by a large earthquake while she was in Kaikoura and just goes to show that earthquakes can happen anywhere, anytime.”

She enjoys working in emergency situations, having completed a post-graduate diploma in emergency management.

She knows her limits too.

“I’m quite calm in emergency situations and look at the big picture.

“In my role you have to stand back and think about the decisions you make, because sometimes you may make a decision that could create more problems.

“We’re always on call, which means we are always alert.”

And that is, in some ways, why she has decided to call time, because it has been a 24/7 job.

“Family is the most important thing to me. I like to think I am helping them by doing my job but I have to admit I am a workaholic, and that is something I have to look at, moving forward.

“I think I got the ethics and community-mindedness from mum (Gaye Hollamby) — she was very focused on the community and helped people right up until the day she died, and I want to continue that community focus, moving forward.”

In the meantime, Mrs Bennett says she just wants to have a small break.

“I am going to spend some time at the farm and just really look after myself, something I have been neglecting recently, I have to say, and I am going to spend time with my family.”

While leaving her role might be to give herself some time for the finer things in life, it might not last very long.

She says there are no plans set in stone for the future but a number of possibilities.

Completing her masters degree or further work in emergency management are options but says she is open to anything.

“I’m not the sort of person who can sit and do nothing.”