Common sense is finally being shown, with $400,000 to be spent on starting a network of sirens. Tauranga City Council has done the right thing by listening to the people.
Councillors yesterday decided to install fixed public tsunami warning sirens costing up to $1 million.
The lack of sirens has been hugely
controversial and has dragged on since the 2004 Boxing Day disaster.
Successive attempts at sorting out the mess have failed.
Public sirens were rejected in February in favour of smaller household alarms that people would have to buy.
But this decision, quite rightly, caused an uproar that quickly gathered momentum after the devastating Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which claimed thousands of lives.
Now, common sense is finally being shown, with $400,000 to be spent on starting a network of sirens along the coast and along the city's harbour margins.
It is expected up to $1 million will be spent on sirens over the next two years.
These sirens are a huge weapon in protecting 51,000 at-risk residents, but not the only one.
The council has signalled it is looking at a number of other options including new escape routes, better roads and signs showing how people can flee to safety.
This will cost tens of millions of dollars, but the cost is worth it.
A 6.75m tsunami would flood the entire Bay coastal strip and the rest of the city's harbour margins - hitting 19,000 homes and forcing 35,000 people to flee for their lives.
Yesterday's decision will please the thousands of people living in the danger zones.
It is now vital the council follows through with this and delivers in a reasonable time frame. Decisions on spending the rest of the money will be made later this year when the council considers its 10-year plan starting 2012.
It must not spend the next decade squabbling over this and must not allow this matter to get bogged down in typical council red tape.
Every councillor is on notice to deliver. Action is needed because lives could ultimately be at stake.
