Emergency Management

What Does Civil Defence Mean?

The purpose of Civil Defence is to save lives and property in the event of a disaster. It's also about reducing the potential for disaster and knowing what to do when a disaster does occur. Civil Defence is also responsible for the recovery effort after an event has happened.

We are all responsible for protecting ourselves, our families, our neighbours and our property - until other help arrives. Civil Defence relies heavily on local resources and organisations, with backing from regional and national resources as needed. There is no large full-time Civil Defence team standing by, so we need to rely on each other if the worse does happen.

Civil Defence in the Waimakariri District

Civil Defence in the District is managed by the Council. Council resources, government departments, non-government organisations, community groups, trained volunteers and volunteers are all brought together by the Council’s Civil Defence team to support the community during a disaster.

The Council is a member of the Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group and operates under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, which came into effect on 1 December 2002, replacing the Civil Defence Act 1983.

Civil Defence Centres


Emergency statuses and what they mean

Always be prepared, a sudden event can occur at any time.

The council has activated its emergency response but there is no need for a state of emergency declaration at this time.

The council has activated its emergency response and the situation is such that a ‘state of local emergency’ has been declared by the council or ‘a state of national emergency’ has been declared by the National Emergency Management Agency.

Council will share relevant warnings and alerts on our website and Facebook page. For specific watches, warnings and alerts visit the relevant agency's website:

FENZ: Wildfire warnings

Te Whatu Ora: Extreme Hot Weather and Public Health Alerts

MetService: Severe weather watches and warnings

Environment Canterbury: River health warnings

GNS Science: Seismic activity warnings

NIWA: Tsunami warnings

MainPower: Power supply warnings and outages


Contact us

In a Civil Defence emergency you can contact us on 0800 WMK GOV (0800 965 468).

If there is an immediate risk to life, call the emergency services on 111.

Brennan Wiremu

Emergency Management Advisor

Email: brennan.wiremu@wmk.govt.nz
Phone: 0800 965 468

Dean Eades

Emergency Management Advisor

Email: dean.eades@wmk.govt.nz
Cellphone: 027 216 5704

215 High Street
Private Bag 1005
Rangiora 7440

The Waimakariri District Council has a 24 hour phone service for non-emergency incidents: 0800 965 468 (0800 WMK GOV).

Follow the Waimakariri Civil Defence Team on Facebook and Twitter.

Last reviewed date: 12 Feb 2024