UPDATED 9.09pm: Police understaffing is raising major concerns in the Motueka community, but police say they're satisfied there's enough staff.

New Zealand First has obtained information showing towns like Motueka or Wanaka are being left with only two officers, or none at all, for days at a time.

Motueka Community board Chair Paul Hawkes says this often mean response times are much longer.

"A lot can happen in 30 minutes. If somebody pulls a gun on somebody, there's a hell of a lot of water that passes under the bridge in that 30 minutes time whereas if you're only 3 or 4 minutes away normally you can actually defuse the situation a hell of a lot quicker."

Mr Hawkes says it's lucky nothing bad has happened so far.

 A southern Police spokesperson says they have contingency plans in place if more police are needed at the time of a major event.