It has been claimed that a meeting held in a Moray village that sought to gather information on the recent floods was “not helpful to the community”.
Moray Council arranged the public event in Dallas on Monday to gather first-hand information on the experiences faced by the village during and after the flooding on August 11.
One resident who was badly hit when the River Lossie burst its banks, offshore engineer John Fielding, told the meeting that weeks after his home was deluged he is still waiting to hear back from insurers.
As well as representatives from the local authority’s risk management team the meeting was attended by staff from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Scottish Flood Forum.
[box] “I did not see the event as being helpful towards the community.” – Dallas resident [/box] They heard Mr Fielding describe how his family had been forced from their home and were living with his parents. He said: “Everywhere was affected by water – the garage, kitchen, hallway and the living room.
“Our priority was to get the kids to safety – we have three children aged six, three and five and a half months old.”
After the meeting Mr Fielding said: “I did not see the event as being helpful towards the community. I think it was more an information gathering event for the council.”
However, Scottish Flood Forum director Paul Hendy pointed out that they held regular surgeries at the Houldsworth Institute where the meeting took place.
Mr Hendy said: “We hold a surgery in this hall every Monday to Friday from 4pm to 7pm to provide leaflets and information and we will remain until people no longer need us.
“It is a long process dealing with the aftermath of flooding and we want to ensure support and advice is at hand.”