New emergency management, search and rescue centre for Ruapehu district opens

Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell with former colleagues Pete Masters and Cliff Jones at the opening of the new Central Plateau Emergency Management Centre, Te Whare Whakaora o Waimarino.

A new state-of-the-art facility will provide a central point for search and rescue operations and emergency management for the Central Plateau.

Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell opened the Central Plateau Emergency Management Centre, Te Whare Whakaora o Waimarino, in National Park Village last week.

The facility will be a digitally-enabled incident control point, training space, equipment store and staging area for operations.

Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton said Te Whare Whakaora o Waimarino would be the new home for the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation, Ruapehu Land Search and Rescue Group, and Ruapehu Civil Defence.

“With the Central Plateau area being one of the busiest search and rescue sectors in the country, and one prone to natural disasters, Te Whare Whakaora o Waimarino provides a beacon of hope and resilience that embodies the spirit of manaakitanga, a commitment to care and support for both residents and visitors to the region,” Kirton said.

“Our first responders are now better equipped to do their job with a home base that will enable a much faster, better co-ordinated and more effective response, helping to ensure the safety and well-being of all those impacted by emergencies.”

At the opening, Mitchell said in the six months since being responsible for national emergency management he had been to six local states of emergency.

“It became obvious to me very early on that we need to have a network of these emergency management centres throughout the whole country as part of building local resilience and being well-prepared.

“The Ruapehu community have mobilised and identified what they need to do and delivered an outstanding emergency management centre that places them well in being able to get help and support to people when they need it most.”

Mitchell said he was proud to be part of the opening which had a personal element for him having been a police dog handler based in Taupō and a member of the search and rescue team involved in operations on the Central Plateau.

At the event, Mitchell met with some of the first responders he worked with on rescue operations.

They included Cliff Jones, then a Tūrangi search and rescue police officer, and rescue helicopter pilot Pete Masters who had pivotal roles in the successful rescue of French toddler Jeanne Chavance who went missing in freezing conditions from Whakapapa Village at the foot of Mt Ruapehu in 2002.