Extra aid for flood zone ruled out

The Government will not compensate flood-hit Gisborne growers, and says it cannot be expected to mop up every time there is bad weather.

Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton said he sympathised with people affected by the second round of flooding to douse Gisborne in five weeks.

"It's not pleasant to be faced with the prospect of not being able to say 'yes' to people in need, in terms of a virtual blank cheque," Mr Anderton told reporters.

"But I think in the interests of all New Zealanders we have to face the fact we don't have an adequate basis on which to look at a government assistance for weather events of the kind that are going to recur very regularly in New Zealand."

The Government previously announced it would not offer more than usual assistance to Gisborne after the Labour weekend floods.

Criteria for Government intervention were that the event was rare, extreme and economically significant, in other words that government assistance was vital for recovery, Mr Anderton said.

"But if we are as a Government to offer financial assistance ... that is over and above the normal Taskforce Green-type approach of rehabilitation, then this will be a financial commitment of very significant consequence," he said.

Mr Anderton said officials were preparing papers on risk management and he would talk with industry representatives so people knew who would pay for what in future.

The possibility of some individuals getting government assistance was still open, he said. "I'm not ruling out a special submission on an individual case-by-case basis."

Over Labour weekend last month torrential rain lashed the region, with some areas north of Gisborne receiving more than 300mm of rain. Both floods involved evacuations and millions of dollars of crops were destroyed.

The Waipaoa River on Monday night threatened to burst its banks after heavy rain and strong winds caused flooding, power cuts and road closures. More than 400 residents of Te Karaka, 32km northwest of Gisborne, were on standby to evacuate.

Grower Mike Newman said yesterday that although the recent flooding was not as severe as last month's, it would still hurt growers.

"Planting will be delayed on land that had finally dried up enough to work and get a tractor on, and some blocks that have been replanted have been hit again," he said.

"Some of this land is marginal. ... You might expect one [flood] every 10 years or so, but twice in four weeks is a little bit extreme."

Mr Newman said the flooding was a huge mental and financial blow.

"A lot of growers will be devastated after the second round of flooding. They've been putting the hours in to dry out and replant, then this happens."

Gisborne District Council flood recovery manager John Clarke said the weekend's flooding had put pressure on newly planted crops, caused widespread surface flooding and saturated the ground.

"If the Labour weekend flood event left a hole in the region's economy, the rain over the past four days has widened that hole into a drop-out," Mr Clarke said.

Pouring down

* Between 200mm and 250mm of rain fell in three days after Friday in the hill country north of Gisborne.

* The heaviest rain fall was 305mm inland from Tolaga Bay.

- NZPA