The paging system triggering the 27 tsunami sirens around the Coromandel will start to be disconnected over the next few months – to be completed by the end of September.

The decision was made at the Thames-Coromandel District Council's Emergency Management Committee meeting on Thursday.

'All but nine of the sirens are attached to the Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ) network and they have requested we disconnect them so that they can make improvements,” says emergency management manager Garry Towler.

'But also, as a tsunami alerting tool, they are only 44 per cent effective, in fact they're the least effective method of this type of alert. It's time to get on and use new technological methods which will give us at least 93 per cent effective coverage.”

In July 2020, Thames-Coromandel Council received a letter from the Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management advising them to disconnect the 27 tsunami sirens within our district, nine of which are on Council land or attached to Council buildings.

'Since July 2020, we've been working with FENZ on how we can disconnect our siren pager network and what processes will be used once they are disconnected,” says Towler.

'For a lot of people, sirens are what they've known all their lives, and this will be a significant change.

'We'll be kicking off a public campaign, to help educate people and answer any questions, which will be done in conjunction with our Emergency Management team and FENZ.

‘It's estimated that over the peak summer period, with the use of technology we can currently reach 93 per cent of the population.

'By the time the sirens are disconnected, this will hopefully be at 96 per cent. For people in remote areas who may not receive alerts, other systems and awareness education will be used.”

Towler says they'll be installing prominent signage on beaches, which will help raise awareness.

'It's the technology and the signage working together that'll help our system improve,” says Mr Towler.

Thursday's meeting was the first Emergency Management Committee meeting for the year - the last meeting was held on December 9 in preparation for a very dry summer.

'It was a good summer, we had no major water issues, solid waste had a few problems as it's always 'maxed' out over the peak period,” says Towler.

'We also had no major storms or cyclones. We didn't dodge a bullet, we were just well prepared.”

You can watch the recording of the meeting here

You can read the agenda for this meeting, and other meetings, on the council's website