South Hinksey demo

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IMG_6138 South Hinksey demo

25 October 2014
Successful South Hinksey ‘demo’ to press for temporary barriers should flooding come again. OFA supported the PC and community – who are asking for preparatory groundwork to be done by the Vale District Council. The village will provide volunteers to erect the barrier. Well over 100 people came from throughout the parish, plus OFA Steering Group members, and formed a ‘human barrier’. Our MP Nicola Blackwood, our Labour PPC Sally Copley and our LibDem PPC Layla Moran were all there supporting us. The event was reported, with photograph, in the Oxford Mail and Oxford Times.

Come to our Annual Public Meeting – 13 November

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16 October  2014

Our own Annual Public Meeting is on Thursday 13th November 2014, 7 for 7.30pm, the Demos, Osney Island, Oxford.
All welcome. Come and learn more about the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme and long-stretch maintenance.
Ask us questions, tell us what you think, discuss topics such as upstream storage and delaying run-off. Anything about flooding.

OAFP annual public meeting

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16 October 2014

OAFP annual public meeting this evening at which Thames Water announced news of a £1million+ study of the Oxford area catchment sewers, over the next 2-3 years. This will result in a business plan to take appropriate action. That will then have to be funded. Welcome news, well done all who have worked towards this, not least Oxford City Council and local MPs, but most of all to Thames Water themselves.

An interesting meeting, and well attended, but we missed the open floor question session that disappeared last year; hope it’ll be back next year.

Earl Street upgrade

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15 October 2014

OFA is working with the City Council on a plan to upgrade the static pumps at the southern end of Earl Street, and to install either sumps and pumps or a static/passive drainage system to protect the rear of properties on both sides in conjunction with property-level protection. Nick Hills will be meeting council officers shortly to finalise plans. We are hopeful that funds will be made available through DEFRA grants.

Steering Group meeting

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14 October 2014

Some key points

  • Munday’s bridge – serious problems seem to have arisen in the last few days during attempts to improve the channel profile (which was not created properly in the original project last year). When we are certain of the detail we’ll let you know.
  • OFA will actively support South Hinksey PC’s efforts to ensure that SH should have temporary barriers should flooding threaten this winter.
  • To get talks with landowners on long-stretch waterway maintenance under way asap.
  • The EA plan to clear the obstructions in Hinksey Stream identified on our canoe trip (see 1 October below) soon.
  • We received information from a Jericho resident about trees in the Castle Mill Stream and have liaised with the EA, who aim to clear these soon.
  • We will have a stand at the ‘Flood Fair’ at West Oxford Community Centre on Friday 31October, 2-7pm. Open to all.

 

Waterways Plan: riparian landowners’ responsibilities

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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.

Castle Mill Stream

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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.

A flap valve for South Hinksey

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7 October 2014

South Hinksey: Oxfordshire County Council Engineers are to fit a non-return flap-valve to a surface water drain where is empties into a field ditch: this will prevent water pouring from the ditch into the street in low-order flood events. The Parish Council requested this, and was supported by OFA. The work should be done this month. Thank you County Engineers.

Burst main

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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?

  • Are these disasters a reflection of a poor state of mains pipes more widely in the Oxford area?
  • Can we expect more burst mains as old pipes fail?
  • When the repair is done at the site of the rupture, is the rest of the pipe being checked to assess its state?
  • If so, is this being acted on speedily?

We hope Thames Water will, in Normandy Crescent (and anywhere else)

  • be speedy and thorough in its clear up
  • communicate well with residents
  • promptly investigate the state of the whole pipe concerned
  • make public the results of those investigations

act on them promptly and effectively.