Mearns landowners are to work with the council to tackle flooding issues after 70 communities were hit in one day last year.
More than 60 members of the public attended a meeting in Fettercairn Village Hall to discuss December’s flooding with representatives of Aberdeenshire Council.
The meeting was arranged following calls from communities to safeguard villages and towns affected.
Representatives of the Scottish Flood Forum and Scottish Environment Protection Agency were also in attendance, as were councillors.
Kincardine and Mearns area manager William Munro said December 23 saw flooding incidents occur in more than 70 communities across Aberdeenshire, following 10 days where more than twice the average rainfall occurred.
Head of roads and landscape services Philip McKay gave an overview of the flooding that hit Fettercairn and addressed a series of questions gathered from the community.
He said there were 177 incidents caused by flooding and storms across Aberdeenshire on December 23, with Stonehaven being particularly badly hit.
The meeting heard resources were stretched as council operatives addressed the impact of the storms and it was not immediately known that Fettercairn had suffered flooding issues.
Resident David Forsyth called for the development of an alarm system that locals could use.
He said: “We will work with you and we will critique your systems in order that we have clear information that we can respond to locally. It’s quite clear you guys don’t have the ability to do that you can’t be everywhere at once.”
Another attendee, Alan Mowat, spoke of local frustrations in attempts to alert agencies to the flooding that was hitting Fettercairn.
Mr McKay said priority was given to public health and safety issues, such as threat to life, in the first instance. He explained the authority would then focus on clearing up other communities.
Another member of the public said the council had failed to fulfil promises made three years ago to address flood issues and spoke of the financial cost to the Fettercairn through the loss of crops.
Further calls came for a burn that runs through the village to be dredged to prevent it from bursting its banks. Mr McKay said dredging could undermine earlier flood protection work undertaken in the 1980s.
There was a call for all parties to work together, identify ownership of all areas of the watercourse and prepare a programme of activity to tackle the whole stretch.
A commitment was then made by the council to work with landowners to coordinate an approach to the issue.
Mr McKay said two potential options were being developed in the longer term that would hopefully provide protection for a flood with a 0.5% risk of being exceeded annually.
One option would be to create a one-kilometre bypass channel to the south-west of the village, while another would see a channel created to take excess water into the Black Burn.
Mr McKay stressed that the risk of flooding could not be removed altogether and said cost would be a factor.
After the meeting, Mr Munro said: “The meeting was very productive and there was a clear willingness from residents and landowners to work in partnership with the council and other agencies to move matters forward in the short term.”