Ready in Your Community

Get to Know Your Neighbours and Community

Getting involved with a community initiative in your local area is a great first step. You could join or form a neighbourhood support group allowing you and your neighbours to share skills and resources that can be vital in an emergency. Discuss what you can do to assist each other and contact civil defence staff at your local council for details on getting started.

A community initiative doesn't need to be specifically focused on disaster preparedness for it to be of value in the event of an emergency. Any initiative that brings people together and creates social connections will pay dividends if there's an emergency event in your area. When neighbours know each other, they are better able to look after one another. This is especially important during and after a disaster, like a storm or a large earthquake.

Neighbourhood Support is an excellent way to connect with your neighbours, as it aims to make our homes, streets, neighbourhoods and communities safer and more caring places in which to live. Neighbourhood Support works closely with the Police and many other organisations in your community to reduce crime, improve safety and prepare to deal with emergencies and natural disasters.
Go to the Neighbourhood Support website

Create a Community-Driven Emergency Plan

A community emergency plan is a great way for a community to come together, discuss and outline how they plan to respond and keep each other safe during an emergency event. A community emergency plan is owned and developed by the community, for the community; it is not imposed by a council.  Community emergency plans often provide:

• Risks - A description of the hazards and risks in the local area.
• Capacities - Some of the strengths, vulnerabilities and assets or facilities in the local area that will likely be of use during an emergency.
• Connections - An overview of the key community networks, channels for official information and how to connect in with local civil defence.

The plan is developed by representatives, stakeholder and organisations within the community, who can form a working group with the goal of developing and maintaining the plan. The process of developing the plan can be facilitated by an Emergency Management Advisor.

If you're part of a local initiative looking to get involved in community emergency planning, contact Marlborough Emergency Management.