Ruapehu district has celebrated the opening of its new Central Plateau Emergency Management Centre, Te Whare Whakaora o Waimarino, in National Park Village by the Hon. Mark Mitchell, Minister of Emergency Management and Recovery (yesterday 18-7-24).

The state-of-the-art facility provides a central point for search and rescue operations and emergency management for the Central Plateau area serving as a digitally enabled incident control point, training space, equipment store, and staging area for operations.

Mayor Weston Kirton said that Te Whare Whakaora o Waimarino will be the new home for the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation (RARO), 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.

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

In opening the Centre Minister Mitchell noted that 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," he said.

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

While at the opening the Minister was able to reconnect with some of the first responders he worked with on some of these rescue operations.

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

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