The Manawatū-Whanganui Emergency Management Group Plan is the primary public document that outlines how the group, partners and agencies reduce risk, get ready for, respond to, and recover from major emergencies and disasters in the region.

The Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 requires us to review our group plan every five years. As part of this process, we ask for public submissions to make sure the plan reflects the the people who live, work and play in the region. It’s important that our Group Plan represents all parts of our community and your feedback is essential to ensuring this.

You'll find a simple survey just below. There is only one question - what do you think of the draft Group Plan? We've given you the option to type your response in a free-text box. You can also attach documents if you have supporting evidence, or have already typed your response into a Word file or something similar.

If you like, you can speak to your submission. You will speak to a panel of group representatives. This group will consider all submissions, then determine if the draft Group Plan needs changes before being finalised.

Click/tap the questions below the survey to learn more about the Group Plan review process and emergency management in the Horizons Region.

People who asked to speak to their submission to a panel of group representatives will get their opportunity on Friday 14 November. This will take place in the Huia Room on Level 2 of Te Ao Nui at 17 Victoria Avenue, Palmerston North.

Click/tap here to learn more about this process. You'll also be able to read the submissions we received on the group plan.

Deliberations about the draft plan are scheduled to be held on 14 November 2025, with the final group plan to be signed off on 2 December 2025. We'll post the final group plan on this webpage once it is ready.