Monthly Archives: May 2025

Earl Street to get additional pump

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Residents of Earl Street in West Oxford are to receive additional flood protection under a small grants scheme run by Oxfordshire County Council. The grant of £600 will pay for a small petrol/diesel mobile pump to be deployed as required in a rear garden into which flood water flows from the gardens to the north. This will reduce the risk of ingress of water into properties on the western side of Earl Street, comprising 34 terraced houses and 1 ground floor flat. A sump is already in place in the garden where the pump will be deployed.

The grant application was made by Nick Hills, an OFA Steering Group member, via the Earl Street Residents Association (ESRA). The association is working in partnership with the City Council who will administer the funds.

The ESRA was set up in 2017 to secure funding for a large mobile pump from Scottish and Southern Energy Network’s Community Resilience Fund. The residents association was later successful in winning grants from the City Council to install sumps in three gardens in the street and the pumps to go in them. 

Nick Hills said: ‘This additional pump will provide extra protection and reassurance to Earl Street residents during a flood. We are grateful to Cllr Susanna Pressel for making us aware of the opportunity to apply for this funding, and for the support of the County and City Councils.’  

That’s TV reports on CPO decision

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That’s TV, the internet-based broadcaster, has aired interviews with Jon Mansbridge of the Environment Agency (22 May) and Simon Collings of OFA (27 May) about the government’s approval of the compulsory purchase order for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. Scroll through the posts on their That’s TV Oxfordshire Facebook page to view these. The interviews are also available on X.

Flood scheme decision in the media

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Regional and local media have been reporting on the announcement of government backing for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. BBC South Today ran a report yesterday (16 May) including an interview with Robbie Williams of the Environment Agency. The item starts around 8:50 minutes into the programme.

Earlier in the day Simon Collings gave OFA’s reaction to the news on BBC Radio Oxford, and there’s a written report on the BBC News blog about the decision.

The Oxford Mail also covered the story and there’s a paragraph in this week’s Oxford Clarion.

Oxford East MP, Annelise Dodds, tweeted on X: BREAKING NEWS: Local residents will be relieved that the @OxfordFAS CPO has now been “approved”. Along with Oxford Flood Alliance, residents and Labour Councillors I’ve been pushing for this and welcome this decision.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP, Layla Moran, tweeted: Welcome news of progress on the long-awaited Oxford flood alleviation scheme to protect homes and businesses.

Major step forward for flood alleviation scheme

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The Secretary of State, at DEFRA, Steve Reed, has approved the compulsory purchase order for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. This now enables the Environment Agency to proceed with acquiring the land needed to build the scheme. The decision follows a public inquiry into the CPO held at the end of 2023. The planning inspector who chaired the inquiry rejected the arguments of objectors and recommended implementation of the scheme as proposed by the Environment Agency.

In making this announcement both Steve Reed and Emmy Hardy, the floods minister, make it clear the government is fully behind the scheme and are committed to seeing it delivered.This is hugely welcome news.

Here is the full text of the DEFRA/EA press release:

New scheme in Oxford to protect every home and business from risk of River Thames flooding

  • Environment Secretary Steve Reed approves purchase to allow new scheme to be built
  • The scheme is part of the record £2.65 billion being invested in flood protection over two years

All homes, businesses and crucial infrastructure in Oxford at risk of flooding from the River Thames will be better protected thanks to a major new flood defence.   This will provide vital reassurances for more than 160,000 residents in the face of our changing climate.  

In another step under the Government’s Plan for Change, Environment Secretary Steve Reed gave crucial approval to the Environment Agency and its partners to purchase land and grant rights within the flood scheme area, which has enabled the flood scheme to progress.  

This project is part of the Government’s record two-year investment of £2.65 billion to build and repair flood defences across the country.  

Floods Minister Emma Hardy said:  

“The role of Government is to protect its citizens, but flood defences were inherited in their worst condition on record.  

“Through our Plan for Change, a record £2.65 billion is going into building and repairing flood defences over the next two years.  

“The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is a vital new piece of infrastructure that will deliver economic growth in Oxfordshire, better protect homes and businesses and deliver new jobs.”  

Robbie Williams, Project Director for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, said:  

“We’re delighted to have received approval to progress with purchasing the land needed for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme to go ahead.  

“This is a major step forward for the project, ensuring we can bring this vital flood protection to the city. As we face increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather, the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is more urgently needed than ever.  

“We can now all look forward to starting work on putting the scheme into place.”  

This follows the earlier good news that Oxfordshire County Council resolved to grant planning permission for the scheme – this decision is separate from the Compulsory Purchase Order.  

The Environment Agency made a Compulsory Purchase Order for the land, which – as there were objections from some of the landowners – went to a public inquiry. An independent Inspector listened to the objections and to the case for confirming the order and reported her recommendations to the Secretary of State to make a final decision.  

The new scheme is designed to cope with major floods of a scale Oxford last experienced in 1947. This is far bigger in size than any of the floods Oxford has experienced in recent decades. With a changing climate, it is expected there would be more frequent heavy rainfall leading to potential flooding.  

The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is designed to work with the natural floodplain to the west of Oxford, which will be lowered to increase its capacity. A new stream will be created, fed by the River Thames, meandering through gently sloping grazing meadows. People will be able to walk and cycle alongside the new stream, with views of wildflowers and wetland.

The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme aims to enhance the natural floodplain to the west of Oxford by lowering it to increase its capacity.  

With the Compulsory Purchase Order confirmed, the Environment Agency can now exercise its statutory powers to acquire the rights and interests in the affected land. Once this process is complete, construction is expected to start in late 2026.  

Led by the Environment Agency, the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is one of the biggest flood schemes currently proposed in England.