The perfect storm of multiple disasters and a local body election has caused Council staff and elected officials to foam at the mouth about disaster preparedness.  Unfortunately, very few of the people passing comment in the media know what they are talking about, as they are living in the 1950s.

It was in this era that the concept of 'Civil Defence' was first born, out of a need to prepare the wider communities of the USA and UK for imminent nuclear warfare. This is where we get the myth of having to be prepared for "three days".

In reality it is best to be prepared for upwards of three weeks.

But preparedness is only one small part of a bigger picture. The picture is so big, in fact, that no government could possibly manage it all on its own. It needs help: from the people of this nation.

For years I have been a crusader for Community Resilience - a process that sees the social fabric of New Zealand communities grow stronger. The Community Resilience model I helped develop has been lauded internationally, but largely ignored by local government. Why? Now isn't that a good question?

My personal feeling is that Councils feel that they have 'ownership' of communities. Sure, they legally are responsible for emergency management... but we aren't talking about that. Emergency Management is a technical/professional occupation that occupies a specific phase of a disaster.

Community Resilience is an ongoing process of building a strong community piece by piece, one neighbour at a time. Can anyone still remember when kids were allowed to play outside together and all the neighbours kept an eye out for them? Wouldn't it be nice to get back to that way of life?

New Zealanders are not prepared for a major disaster and the situation will not change until local authorities release the selfish grip they hold over disaster preparedness. Councils need to recognise that communities know better in many instances, and are better off leading the move toward preparedness, not being shifted around like mindless sheep to the slaughter.