It is the fifth time since September that the area has been flooded, and some locals are claiming this is the worst for 30 years.

Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear.

Residents have claimed that authorities and agencies have not been listening to their calls for help; have not been taking their plight seriously. Well, seeing water coursing through streets, into gardens and homes should be evidence enough of the need for action.

There have been signs in the last couple of months that the message is getting through. Local people have rallied to demand action and there has been a response from the powers-that-be, but local folk want more to be done and more quickly.

Moray Council and the Crown Estate, the two public agencies responsible for important river bank maintenance and flood management, are under pressure to co-ordinate an immediate response. They have been warned that the course of the river is moving and threatening the villages, and we are seeing that with our own eyes this week.

Land-owners are being urged to face up to their responsibilities, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) also has to be involved in assessing the heightening flood risks.

A concerted effort is clearly vital, and efforts to continue finding greater protection for Garmouth and Kingston must continue gathering apace.

Local people accept they are vulnerable, but they can't accept any lack of readiness and commitment to investigate and co-ordinate measures to help ease the threat.

They want to see that their plight is being taken seriously and being treated as a matter of urgency. That is no less than they deserve.

Don't do nothing - turn out and vote

LIKE IT or not, the starting gun has been fired for the General Election campaign and the wall-to-wall coverage on television, radio and in our newspapers is well underway. Sick of it already? Well, try not to be.

The parties all claim to have the answers for getting the country out of its mega-debt mess. That is a huge challenge in itself, but the election throws up an even greater challenge, if that is possible - winning back the public's trust in politicians and the political system.

Expenses scandals have shaken public confidence to the core, and many people are wondering whether they should bother voting at all. Well, they should - yes, you should. Only by using your ultimate democratic right - your vote - can you play a part in righting the wrongs and declaring that we want honesty and transparency to be at the heart of our political system, whether in government or opposition.

Make your demands known to the candidates, in addition to your demands for a better deal for Moray, Scotland and our whole society.

And the candidates must listen and respond. Their challenge is to engage with the electorate, to show that they deserve the public's trust, deserve people to make the effort of going along to the polling station on May 6.

We await with interest to see if our candidates here in Moray are up to the challenge of re-energising an interest in politicians and elections.

If they are not, then they and their parties do not deserve support.

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