Taihape need a New Ambulance Station

Recent initial earthquake assessment of the villa has found it to be unsatisfactory in regards to IL4 building standards.

In addition to the state of the villa, the property has no garaging for ambulance vehicles, leaving ambulances to be parked on the off-street driveway or on the road. This poses several health and safety and operational issues including but not limited to:

- meeting current standards for cleaning the inside of the ambulance and associated equipment out of weather conditions

- proper storage of equipment and supplies

- poor equipment performance due to uncontrolled temperatures

- damage to vehicles due to exposure to weather

- security of staff and personnel at night

During the 2013 Census 43% of the population in Taihape identified as Māori and furthermore indicated an aging population of lower socio-economic benefit.

There is also a trend of retired people moving from Auckland, purchasing cheaper homes and making Taihape their place of residence. In general these characteristics require a higher level of health care.

Over the 12 months (March 2017 – February 2018) Taihape station has had 562 responses.