The extent of the damage, essential requirements and human reactions was laid bare at a meeting in Willawarrin on Thursday night.

Around 70 community members attended the recovery planning meeting to hear an update on the bushfire, drought and flood response in the community.

The public were also able to share their own feedback and share their thoughts on community needs and planning recovery.

Kempsey Shire Council's acting general manager Stephen Mitchell said emotions ran high during the meeting, but overall the meeting was productive.

"We did expect some emotions to run high during the meeting, with people focusing on the immediate needs of the community. This is important, but this recovery response will last for weeks, months and years and we need to focus on the whole plan for the recovery response," he said.

"This meeting represented a vital step in recognising challenges and starting to create a shared idea of what will be important in the next phase of recovery."

"Council have been involved in the response from the beginning, but this was the first recovery conversation in how we are going to go forward."

In both the meeting and in the conversations afterwards people shared their experiences and their ideas to help council identify the priorities for Kempsey's Recovery Action Plan.

"We need the input from the communities who were directly impacted by these events to assist us in how we can best use the funding to move forward in the recovery stage," Mr Mitchell said.

Council will use the feedback to progress social, built, economic and natural recovery initiatives, which will involve a combination of direct council actions, advocacy to other levels of Government and community driven events and activities.

Some of the key areas of recovery identified by participants at the meeting included the need for community mental health training, development of local fire response plans, and the need to create events and tourism opportunities that encourage people to visit the upper Macleay.

"One of the clear messages we received is the need for continued information, updates and ongoing engagement as we formalise plans and seek funding," Mr Mitchell said.

"We will report back to the community on all the ideas that we've gathered to date but also continue to have these important conversations with additional Recovery Planning Meetings to be held in Bellbrook and other areas of the shire."

Residents also spoke of the need for unity in approaching the coming months and years.

"There is no easy, quick solution for recovery on this scale and magnitude but it's really important that we tackle this issue as a whole community and everyone feels that their contributions and visions are valuable."

The next Recovery Planning Meeting will be held in Council Chambers at Kempsey Shire Council on March 10 from 5pm to 6.30pm.