District Headquarters

The District Headquarters is located in the Ashburton District Council administration building in Baring Square West, Ashburton.

The District Headquarters will provide a co-ordination and liaison role for all response activities within the district, and will also be responsible for keeping the CDEM Group informed of developments and progress.

Within the District Headquarters will be council staff and volunteers co-ordinating the various functions, and also representatives from the emergency services and utility providers co-ordinating the response for their respective areas of responsibility.

Within the district, communication links will be established between the District Headquarters and sector posts and the welfare centre, plus emergency services and utility providers. If telecommunications are not operating, a VHF radio network will be used.

Outside the district, communication links will be established with the CDEM Group Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at Environment Canterbury in Christchurch, and with the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management and neighbouring territorial local authorities.

Sector Posts

There are 9 Civil Defence sector posts located strategically throughout Ashburton District. These sector posts are located at:

View a map of Ashburton District's Sector Post locations

The appointed sector managers at each sector post will be responsible for the coordination of activities within their respective sectors, and for reporting back to District Headquarters.

These sector posts should be the first point of contact for the public if they are in need of assistance or able to offer assistance to others during a civil defence emergency.

Welfare Centre

If it is necessary to establish a welfare centre to provide food, clothing and accommodation to members of the public, this centre will be located at Ashburton College, Walnut Ave, Ashburton, and centred on the auditorium.

Communications

During an emergency all available forms of communications will be used but it is conceivable that telephones will not be operating. Should this be the case we will revert to VHF radio as our primary means of communication.

An extensive VHF radio network has been established between all sector posts, the welfare centre and District Headquarters. Additional to this, a number of handheld radios and mobile sets in most council vehicles will ensure we will still have communications throughout the district should all other systems fail. All these radios are able to operate on either mains power or a backup 12 volt system.