Redlands Coast recently hosted senior disaster management professionals from eight Queensland councils, including Redland City Council, as part of a new skills development and exchange program.
The training day on Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) was part of the Local Government Association of Queensland’s (LGAQ) Council to Council (C2C) Exchange Pilot, which was officially launched in August.
The program, which is funded by the RACQ Foundation, aims to help local government areas better prepare before disaster strikes.
You may also like these stories
Redland City Mayor and Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) chair Jos Mitchell said the C2C pilot would improve officers’ skills so they could better lead disaster coordination in their communities, and better support response and post-event relief.
“We were incredibly grateful for the help we received from other councils during Tropical Cyclone Alfred in March,” the Mayor said.
“The LGAQ flew in staff from Townsville City Council, Mackay Regional Council and Douglas Shire Council to assist.
“The peer-to-peer learning through the C2C pilot will strengthen that support and bring extra capacity and professional development.
“It will prepare Redland City Council officers if they need to help another council in an emergency; as well as familiarise other councils about Redlands City should we need their support again.”
As well as Redland City, the Mayor said the delegation to Minjerribah included representatives from Douglas Shire, Cairns Regional, Cook Shire, Cassowary Coast Regional, Townsville City, Scenic Rim Regional and Lockyer Valley Regional councils, and officers from the LGAQ, RACQ and Queensland Police Service.
“While on the island, one of the things they got to see firsthand was the devastating sand erosion on Main Beach caused by the cyclone,” she said.
LGAQ Chief Executive Officer Alison Smith said the C2C program in essence was about Queenslanders helping Queenslanders.
“We activate our C2C program for councils every year when disaster hits, ensuring impacted councils are supported by local governments who can lend a hand with expertise and/or equipment,” Ms Smith said.
“However, what this program is all about is helping councils in the off-season to be in the strongest position yet to be able to deal with the next disaster.
“C2C connects councils hit by disaster with councils ready to help – from engineers and recovery crews to comms and logistics.”
As part of the program, a senior disaster management professional from Redland City Council has also trained in several other Queensland council areas.
Mayor Mitchell said it was reassuring for residents to know there was extra support available to supplement Council’s operational capacity for response and recovery activities during a disaster situation.
“We have already seen how this sort of collaboration works with our wonderful volunteers from the Redland City State Emergency Service (SES) Unit,” she said.
“These hard-working volunteers have travelled to various regions – including deployments earlier this year for flood events in North Queensland and Western Queensland – to assist communities in their time of need.
“The C2C pilot adds another element to an outstanding disaster management community.”
