“The surveys show that 25% of people are still living away from their homes, while 10% will never be able to return. This is a significant finding in itself as it clearly underlines the extent of the damage to people’s homes caused by the water inundation after the storm,” said Coffs Harbour Mayor Cr Keith Rhoades, who co-chairs the Coffs Coast Recovery Committee with Bellingen Shire Council Mayor Cr Mark Troy.

“A large number of these people are paying for alternative accommodation themselves and the costs of that are increasing their financial burden. Of those people who are still not able to return home, just over half also had to pay for the storage of their furniture and other household property. Only 42% of people in that situation received any financial help towards that cost.

“The survey was designed to identify residents who have fallen through the gaps in the insurance and relief system – and it’s clearly achieved that aim.

“The report has now been sent to Jenny Macklin, the Federal Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, and the Attorney General Robert McClelland so that they can study it in detail and see what can be done,” he said.

In total, 321 responses were returned - 64.5% of them from the Coffs Harbour local government area (LGA) and 35.5% from the Bellingen LGA.

Cr Troy said that the survey has also shown that while the vast majority of people had had insurance and had their claims accepted, there are still families and individuals who are struggling with insurance companies.

“It also revealed that only 10% of people had received any government assistance. Almost a quarter (22.7%) had applied, but were told they were ineligible.

“Now that we have these findings we can take them to the Federal Government as further evidence of the way in which our communities were affected in March and how, in many, many cases, they’re still struggling to cope,” he said.