A FLOOD management sub-committee of the Tweeddale Area Partnership was created at its meeting on Tuesday evening.

And the sub-committee chairman, Colin Kerr, of Walkerburn Community Council, who will work with elected members, told the group that people with intimate knowledge of the river, such as ghillies, should be consulted.

Mr Kerr spoke of his first-hand experience of last December’s devastating flood in which a woman died in hospital after being rescued from flood waters.

Mr Kerr said: “I have been quite vocal regarding the flood and we seem too reactive rather than proactive.

“Walkerburn was out on a limb last December but we are not going to be able to stop the Tweed from flooding.

“We need to see what reasonable things we can do to alleviate the problem in the future.

“I would like to see the committee going forward with people who have years of knowledge of the Tweed, like ghillies.

“I think the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency also has a big part to play.”

Mr Kerr said that a shingle bank on the west of the River Tweed bed at Walkerburn is pushing the river in a different direction.

He suggested that if something was not done soon, vital infrastructure, like the bridge, could be lost.

The meeting was told that the £91.87m Hawick flood prevention scheme on the River Teviot took three years to construct and that the lead councillor was Stuart Marshall.

Tweeddale East councillor Robin Tatler said he has spoken to Mr Marshall and asked him to come and speak to the area partnership.