Adviser Paul Bayly says integrated approach provides good recovery model for region

Recovery expert Paul Bayly (right) has joined the Covid-19 integrated team in Whanganui. Photo / File

International recovery and infrastructure development consultant Paul Bayly is to join the Whanganui-based Integrated Recovery Team established in response to the Covid-19 emergency.

Recovery manager Charlotte Almond said the team was pleased to have Bayly join as an adviser.

Bayly was born in Whanganui and has worked with the United Nations, across Southern and Eastern Africa as a UN specialist, and in Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and East Timor as a military observer.

The former merchant banker and retired army colonel has recently been involved in recovery and development work following Category 5 cyclones and hurricanes in Fiji and the British Virgin Islands.

Bayly said after discussions with Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall, council chief executive Kym Fell and the recovery managers he was keen to work alongside the Integrated Recovery Team for the communities of Whanganui, South Ruapehu and Rangitikei.

"As we look to recover from this crisis, it is encouraging to see the team moving towards a highly integrated model," he said.

"This means the district health board, the councils in our region, iwi collective Te Ranga Tupua, the Whanganui civil defence team, Whanganui & Partners and multiple agencies are all working together and there is a very good understanding that the social, health and economic aspects of recovery will be highly inter-connected."

Bayly said he has seen a genuine commitment to working with people and communities in ways that will work best for them is most likely to achieve long-term success.

Almond says the team is currently in the process of gathering information, assessing the impacts of the pandemic response and engaging with hundreds of people and organisations to better understand their needs.

"We will be continuing this process for some time and the information will need to be evaluated.

"There certainly has been a lot of pain experienced at this time but early indications suggest that the Whanganui region is relatively well placed for recovery."

The levels of innovation in local communities have been impressive, she says, and people are generating and sharing ideas for recovery and the future of the region.