An article in the Oxford Mail yesterday
Category Archives: OFAS
Meeting with Anneliese Dodds, MP for Oxford East
We met Anneliese Dodds, new MP for Oxford East earlier this week. We had a very useful discussion on a variety of flooding topics, including the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, that we are going to be approaching local firms for financial support for the Scheme, our interest in environmental enhancement as part of the Scheme and in establishing a local body responsible for its maintenance in perpetuity.
We explained our serious reservations about the proposed extension of Seacourt P&R into the functional flood plain (Flood Zone 3b) and what we see as a flawed Flood Risk Assessment. Such an extension could not only affect flood risk itself but set a precedent which might lead to further encroachment onto the floodplain with potential further increase in flood risk. Anneliese will look at the revised planning application which is expected in due course.
We look forward to working with Anneliese in the future.
OFAS: funding gap
The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (OFAS) Sponsoring Group met earlier this month. This group provides high-level oversight of the project and is made up of representatives from the several partner organisations. One topic discussed was the shortfall of £4 million of the £121 million cost of the scheme. As the local ‘grass roots’ community organisation we’re now exploring ways we might engage support from local businesses.
Latest OFAS newsletter (August 2017)
Here’s the latest newsletter from the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme.
OFAS: archaeological investigations
Further archaeological investigations are starting soon in the OFAS area, with digging of trenches in places identified from previous work as being of potential interest. Teams are due to begin setting up base camp in Manor Farm, South Hinksey today. The work is expected to be completed in November 2017.
See this Archaeology Information Sheet for more details.
Oxford Times on the Public Consultation
OFAS – Public Consultation about to begin
Public consultation on the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, OFAS, begins tomorrow.
See https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/oxford-flood-alleviation-scheme-design-consultation for more about this, and tomorrow the dedicated consultation website should be available from the link there.
Visit by EA Chair
We joined Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, the OFAS Project Team and other partners when Emma visited Oxford today. The Public Consultation for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is due to be launched in two days time, on Friday 23 June.
OFAS: Environmental meeting
-
- Banded Demoiselle (damsefly) (Calopteryx splendens), male
-
- Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum), female.
Attended an environmental update meeting yesterday, organised by the EA with a number of local environmental stakeholders attending. A lot of thought is going into making the most of possible environmental enhancements that the Scheme can bring.
Led by Penny Burt of the Environment Agency we covered surveys, ecological trial areas, archaeology, low-flows and existing watercourses, fish passage, Hinksey Meadow, trees and bridges, habitat creation and access. Also mentioned was future maintenance – we felt that the plans were not nearly long-term enough and this was discussed.
For our part we are working closely with the Freshwater Habitats Trust. The Oxford area is rich in freshwater species, though there is, nevertheless, a long term decline: this Scheme could help reverse that trend. We’d like to give the public, including school children, a chance to be involved, including with data collection in the field – sometimes called ‘citizen science’.
The damselflies in the photographs are closely associated with the freshwater habitat.
Seacourt P&R – Key Point 1: a clash with OFAS?
-
- Showing OFAS bund – in green, behind Botley Road houses, on the right of the plan
-
- Showing site of proposed extension, to the right of the area outlined in red
The first image is a part of a plan, from the Environment Agency, of the proposed Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (OFAS) north of the Botley Road. This shows (as at 16 September 2016) that a key flood defence bund is planned for that scheme, running through the area where the car park extension is proposed.
The second image shows the area for the proposed extension to the Seacourt P&R.
It is not clear that the bund and the car park extension could co-exist. OFAS will reduce the risk of flooding in Oxford, vital for people and the future prosperity of the city, not least in the face of climate change. The car park extension proposal is flawed in many ways; the plan should be dropped.
See Key Point 2 and Key Point 3
oxford flood alliance 