We have had a reply to an email OFA sent the Prime Minister on on 7 January about the urgent need for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. The response is from Anna Burns, Area Director – Thames, the Environment Agency, and begins: ‘The Prime Minister was grateful to meet with you and other residents of Oxford to see the impact of the flooding caused by Storm Henk, and to learn more about the Environment Agency’s progress with the scheme. He has read your email and asked me to respond on his behalf.’

The email then provides detail about the recent flooding, the EA’s response and the the current status of the planned flood alleviation scheme. Responding to our plea for faster progress, Ms Burns says: ‘I understand your frustration with the pace of the planning process, more so now given the events of recent weeks. However, I want to assure you that the Environment Agency are doing all they can to get the scheme approved and begin construction as soon as possible.’

The public inquiry into the compulsory purchase order linked to the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme concluded on Friday 6 Jan. The Environment Agency and opponents of the scheme presented summaries of their evidence to the planning inspector in a virtual meeting. These summary statements can be read on the inquiry website here (see Closing Submissions).

At the heart of the debate is the opposition claim that a better option than the scheme proposed by the EA exists. They have not themselves put forward a fully worked up alternative, only a series of outline ideas about where a solution might lie. They claim that if the EA were to undertake detailed work on any of the four ideas they have tabled, the agency should be able to find a better and cheaper solution. The EA rejects these claims and describes all four ideas as ‘non-starters’. This is for various reasons, including non-compliance with national policy guidelines, cost, potential damage to Hinksey Meadow, and a reduction in the reliability of the scheme. The EA argues that the proposals they have submitted for planning approval are the best solution for Oxford.

We now wait for the inspector to decide on the merits of the arguments and supporting evidence. She will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State at DEFRA, Stephen Barclay MP, who will have the final decision.

BBC South broadcast a brief report on the ending of the public inquiry on the evening of 6 January. Liz Sawyer of Oxford Flood Alliance was interviewed by the reporter.

The Oxford Mail today published an article in which OFA steering group member Simon Collings explains where the OFAS scheme has got to and what needs to happen now for it to be built. You can read the piece online here. Two processes are under way – planning consent and approval of a compulsory purchase order. Decisions on these are expected in the coming months. Agreement to proceed with constructing the scheme can’t come soon enough for many flood-affected Oxford residents.

As well as featuring OFA’s letter this week, the Oxford Mail has published a story online combining the OFA points with pictures of the recent flooding. Please check it out.

Simon Collings of OFA was interviewed for That’s TV yesterday and spoke about how if the flood scheme were in place Oxford would not have experienced the flood chaos of the last few days. You can watch the interview on Facebook.

This short video shot using a drone provides a spectacular view of the current flooding in Oxford. It starts with the view north across the Botley Rd, then pans through 180 degrees to the right ending with a view of the floodplain down to Redbridge. The pictures were taken by Bas van Schaik, a resident of Earl Street, and are used here with his permission.

In many communities only a minority of properties are at risk of flooding, at least in relatively minor floods. Ground water rises in gardens and through the floor of the house, and floodwater infiltrates the gardens of house which back onto local water courses. This video, made by a resident of Osney Island, shows river water infiltrating an enclosed garden, and hoses spewing out water being pumped from under a floor. From the street it was not apparent that this house was at risk of flooding. Whatever community you live in please be sensitive to the fact that when river levels are high there may be people near you struggling to keep floodwater out of their house, even if the roads are dry.

Oxford Flood Alliance has a letter in today’s Oxford Mail pointing out that had the flood alleviation scheme been in place none of the chaos we’ve seen over the last 5 days would have happened. Homes and businesses in the city would not have flooded, roads would have been dry, and we wouldn’t have been using up EA and Council staff time and budget deploying barriers, sandbags and pumps.

Even those who objected to aspects of the proposed Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme at the recent public inquiry agree that we need a flood scheme of some sort. There’s even common ground about many aspects of the OFAS design, the engineering work at Redbridge, Kennington and Seacourt, and flood bunds, for example. The sticking point is the two stage channel.

We’ll never get concensus on these issues and choices have to be made by the County planners and DEFRA. That process needs to happen speedily now. OFA wants to see a decision for the scheme to go ahead. Flooding is going to get more frequent and severe. We cannot keep muddling through the way we are currently.

Here is a short video of the flood barrier and pumps in action in South Hinksey. This demonstrates that a permanent bund, as proposed by the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, would be effective. This video of South Hinksey Floods January 2024 by Trevor A Garnham also shows the defences in action – link shared with Trevor’s permission.

Oxford MP Anneliese Dodds has expressed frustration at the long wait for the delivery of a flood solution for Oxford. She told the BBC that such projects need to accelerated for the sake of those being repeatedly affected by flooding. The full story is here. We share her frustration. In 2007 the then Environment Secretary Hilary Benn came to view the flooding in Oxford, and was photographed at the same spot on Osney Island where Rishi Sunak was pictured yesterday. The Oxford Mail headline at the time read: ‘Minister Warns of Future Flooding’. Well he was right about that. The big question is when we’re finally going to do something about it.