30 April 2014

Susanna Pressel, local City and County Councillor (and OFA Flood Star) convened and chaired a very useful flood meeting in West Oxford Community Primary School. Susanna had mustered a panel of representatives from the EA, Thames Water, the Fire & Rescue Service, Thames Valley Police and local councils. Nick Hills of OFA attended as a local resident, but was called to the front to field questions as appropriate. Members of the panel were invited to outline their respective roles and responsibilities, which they did in turn, several of them acknowledging the contribution and initiatives made by OFA. They then responded to questions from the floor. Barry Russell of the EA handled some long and complex questions with his customary aplomb.

9 April 2014

Nick Hills attended a meeting in Birmingham on behalf of OFA. The meeting was convened by the Flood Hazard Research Centre and chaired by Prof Edmund Penning-Rowsell, who invited us. The purpose of the meeting was to assist FHRC in their development of a new free-of-charge website intended to give flood economic data (damages; disruption; simple appraisal tools, etc) to community flood groups and others. They wanted to understand better the requirements of non-professionals with a particular interest in flood risk, alleviation and management. Other attendees included representatives from two other community flood groups, the Environment Agency, the National Flood Forum, Northants County Council, and Mary Dhonau OBE, of MDA Flood Consultants.