KEY POINTS:
Farmers in the Far North and Northland are concerned local bodies have compromised their chance of getting financial help.
It has been a fortnight since a record breaking deluge hit the region, and many are still picking up the pieces, with more than 350 homes affected.
But Far North and Whangarei District Councils did not declare a civil emergency at the time, and there is concern that was a bad decision.
Farmers of New Zealand Director Bill Guest says it has sent the wrong message. He says the damage in certain areas is just as bad as the flood loss in the Manawatu, where a civil emergency was declared and the government coughed up.
Mr Guest says because no such emergency was declared in this case, a lot people needing urgent help have basically been left to their own devices.
- NEWSTALK ZB
