Peter Rawcliffe of OFA met with Peter Collins of the Environment Agency today. Discussion was to take forward proposals to get riparian owners to undertake maintenance of local waterways.
Ownership maps will be shared; a site visit was arranged for 19 March to the Coldharbour area of Hinksey Stream where there is serious, longstanding, obstruction; we hope a representative from Oxford City Council will be able to attend too.
The County’s Flood Risk Management Strategy was formally adopted by the County Council Cabinet this week following the consultation earlier this year.
For more information please follow the link : http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=4039&x=1&
The draft Strategy can be found here
https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/oxfordshire-local-flood-risk-management-strategy
The final Strategy and the associated Action Plan will be available online in due course.
The Strategy mentions the role of riparian owners in maintenance – one of our two key concerns currently. See here too about the responsibilities of riparian owners. We have spoken today to County and expressed our keen interest in helping make this happen and how we think that could be done by County, EA and ourselves working together. Getting this under way has been our aim for a long time – and we will get there.
On-going maintenance is essential. People can help by telling us if they see obstructions. These branches and rubbish on Bulstake Stream were cleared promptly by the Environment Agency in November 2014 after being reported to us by members of the public.
Tree in Castle Mill Stream. Reported September, cleared October 2014.
26 October 2014
Our new ‘Watcher’ of Castle Mill Stream, William Edginton, has just reported back that the trees etc obstructing Castle Mill Stream have been cleared. Good news. We’d like to recruit other ‘River Watchers’ so that obstructions can be dealt with as quickly as possible.
17 October 2014
On BBC Radio Oxford’s breakfast show to comment on Thames Water’s plans for a major survey of Oxford’s sewers.
13 October 2014
We today submitted written comments on a draft synopsis produced by the Flood Defence Group for the Thames Waterways Plan 2015-2020. A point we emphasised was the crucial importance of encouraging large riparian landowners to undertake the maintenance for which they have statutory responsibility, and providing them with practical advice on how to go about this.
7 October 2014
William Edginton from Jericho has helpfully reported several obstructions (trees etc) on the Castle Mill Stream – we have passed this on to the Environment Agency who plan to deal with them in the next 2 to 3 weeks. William has also offered to watch this stream for us and report any problems in future – a most welcome offer, thank you. Thanks also to the EA for getting on with this and other clearances.
5 October 2014
Peter Rawcliffe was interviewed by Bill Heine on Radio Oxford, to do with flooding in Normandy Crescent (between Hollow Way and the Eastern By-Pass) caused two weeks ago by a burst water main. About 50 houses were flooded – a catastrophe for many people. The area was flooded by a previous burst seven years ago, very possibly on the same mains pipe. We remember too the burst water main in South Hinksey in February 2012, when several houses were flooded: some were still undergoing repair 18 months later. Edit: to that add the inundation of Earl Street by a burst main in 1990 or 1991. There are probably others.
Do we now have a “new cause” of flooding to add to the list?
We hope Thames Water will, in Normandy Crescent (and anywhere else)
act on them promptly and effectively.
1 October 2014
OFA attended today’s OAFP meeting:
We asked the EA about progress on our proposals for working with them to ensure that riparian owners maintain the long rural stretches of waterways for which they (the owners) are legally responsible. The EA have prepared an ownership map as we agreed when last we met, so we hope to meet with them again soon.
The problem of flood water (groundwater?) in the back gardens on both sides of Earl Street was discussed. It is hoped that pumps in two gardens and property-level protection will resolve the problem: OFA and the City Council are working together on it.
OFA’s recent reconnaissance trip by canoe from South Hinksey to Redbridge discovered several serious obstructions, trees and so on. We showed photographs of some of them today and they have been reported to the EA as needing removal.
22 August 2014
Members of the Steering Group had a very helpful meeting with Holly Foreman of the EA. Discussion included progress on the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme; developing a Q & A about this scheme; organising long-stretch maintenance by riparian owners (where progress has been slow).
oxford flood alliance 