Marlborough District Council Media Statement

Date: 08 February 2017

Marlborough Mayor welcomes funding for emergency fuel planning

Marlborough Mayor John Leggett says building up a picture of fuel supplies and re-supply options in an emergency is an important piece of the resilience jig-saw for civil defence in Marlborough.

He welcomed today’s announcement of a grant of $23,000 from central government’s 2017 Resilience Fund so this district’s Civil Defence Emergency Management Group can build up an emergency fuel plan for the ‘lifeline’ organisations which provide essential services to the region.

Marlborough relies on Christchurch for aircraft fuel while petrol, diesel and gas comes via Nelson and coal is transported from the West Coast.

“We have seen from the Kaikoura earthquake how quickly an arterial route into the region can be lost. Having a clear picture of how long we can last here before refuelling becomes an issue is important as is some kind of management plan in the event of a major event requiring rationing,” said Mr Leggett.

“The more information we can bring together in advance of an emergency, the better placed we will be as a region to manage the after effects.”

The application for this funding was lodged before the Kaikoura earthquake, said Mr Leggett, but that earthquake had underlined the importance of having as much information as possible to underpin local civil defence plans.

JOHN LEGGETT
MAYOR

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