21 November 2013
Our Annual Public Meeting last night was well attended and successful. Many thanks to all who came.
Apologies that there is not the usual detailed report, but time and technology have been against it.
Tag Archives: OFA
Oxfordshire County Council
19 January 2013
Oxfordshire County Council recently voted in favour of a 5% increase in the contributions of all county councils in the Thames region to the regional flood levy fund, and the vote was (just) carried in favour. This far-sighted move means that more central government funds will be attracted to schemes in Oxfordshire, rather than going elsewhere in the country. Effective flood defences for areas at highest risk will in turn curb the ever-increasing drain on Council funds when floods occur. We congratulate the Council and look forward to seeing schemes across the county in the places most at risk. Oxford is one such and we look forward to helping if we can.
MPs visit flooded areas
30 November 2012
Our MPs, Andrew Smith and Nicola Blackwood, have visited flooded areas to see the problems and how defences were working.
Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: ‘The Environment Agency, City Council and Emergency Services have done a good job. I saw for myself the effectiveness of the barrier by Hinksey Lake and the pumping operation in Vicarage Road, where we had 3 feet of water in 2007. The measures pressed for by the Oxford Flood Alliance and put in place have made a big difference; but it is all still on a knife-edge, and we must all keep up the pressure for more works to reduce the risks still further’.
Nicola Blackwood, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, visited areas on the Botley Road and in South Hinksey before moving on to Abingdon. She saw flood defences working well at Bullstake Close, Botley Road. In sharp contrast, in South Hinksey there was flooding of seven houses, with water which seems very likely to have been contaminated by overflowing sewers. Ms Blackwood is taking up this and other issues on behalf of residents.
Sewers and/or surface water systems appear to have been overloaded too in the Grandpont area, and parts at least of the Botley Road area. This is of great concern and demands urgent investigation and remedy.
OFA Annual Public Meeting, 2012
9 November 2012
We held our fifth Annual Public Meeting last night. Each year we wonder if attendance will drop off as we get further from the last flood. That’s 5 years ago, but again we had an excellent turnout. We work by public consent, so it’s important to us that we have strong public support – we’re ready to go for another year. We were delighted to welcome both our local MPs, Nicola Blackwood and Andrew Smith, and Rodney Rose, Deputy Leader of the County Council, who has responsibility for flooding. The County is now the Lead Local Flood Authority and Rodney Rose represents the County on the important DEFRA Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee.
Thank you to everybody who came.
An key meeting planned
10 July 2012
OFA is hosting a meeting with our partners, to develop proposals for further flood relief for Oxford
There have been significant changes in recent months in the way flood risk management is funded. Partners are being encouraged to work together to find cost effective solutions and to tackle all types of flood risk in a joined up way. Oxford had been identified as a priority area for attention based on the potential number of homes at significant risk. OFA has learned that the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) is keen to promote flood risk management measures in areas such as Oxford and that funding to assist in the development of schemes is potentially available.
The Committee, which approves the programme of schemes in the Thames region, has invited proposals large or small where the cost-benefit analysis can be shown to be positive. The Committee is receptive to proposals from the lead local flood authority, which for Oxford is Oxfordshire County Council, to understand and address surface water risks and the relationship with river flooding. It is also interested in re-examining work undertaken as part of the Oxford Flood Risk Management Strategy to establish whether any of the works can be taken forward under the new funding regime. Collaboration between local agencies and cost sharing are being encouraged under new government rules.
In response to this opportunity OFA has convened a meeting of the County, City and Vale Councils, the Environment Agency and Network Rail to discuss potential schemes which might be put forward. The meeting will take place on 27 July in South Hinksey.
A considerable amount of time and money went into modelling the aborted £100m Oxford Flood Risk Management Scheme. We believe elements of this scheme could be turned into fundable proposals. Also a number of measures suggested by OFA over the last few years could be taken up.
We have had a very positive response from the various local bodies to the idea of a meeting and are looking forward to working with them. We will keep you informed of the outcomes of the meeting.
Earl Street road hump – work starts
Work starts Earl Street road hump
ditto, 2
ditto, 3
20 January 2011
Work is under way to put a raised road hump across the north end of Earl Street. It can be supplemented with sandbags when necessary. This will prevent flood water running down Earl Street as it has in the past. The County is carrying out the work, but the City, the EA and OFA have been involved throughout.
Earl and Duke Streets, Lamarsh Road – and the role of the County Council
20 June 2010
The City and the Environment Agency have worked hard on the technical assessment of feasibility, which they have completed. This shows that our plan would work.
We now urgently need detailed costings of the work required to lower the southern end of Lamarsh Rd. We are looking to the County to provide these. At our meeting in South Hinksey on 24 March 2010, attended by senior representatives from all the agencies concerned, the County Council made a commitment to assess what services lie below that part of the road and to prepare detailed costings of the work that would be needed. This might include digging a test hole. So far as we can discover this has not been done in the intervening 11+ weeks. Considering the urgency, this is extremely disappointing.
We hope that this work will now be done with the utmost urgency.
Go to Library to download our Lamarsh Road proposal and how it would bring relief to the many people whose homes have suffered repeated flooding.
Medium-Term Measures
20 January 2010
We are well on with producing our proposals for further Medium-Term Flood Measures for Oxford (see 22 Dec, Flood Scheme Postponed). Following a meeting last week of OFA’s Steering Group and our Allies from all parts of Oxford and surrounding area, everybody’s contributions are being assembled into a final document. We have decided how to present this. By the end of the month launch plans should be finalised. We believe that our suggestions will offer real hope of further significant reduction of flood risk – keeping more people dry in their homes and businesses.
Flood scheme postponed
22 December 2009
At our meeting with the EA on 8 December we were told that the 100-year flood protection scheme for Oxford had been postponed indefinitely: see EA End of Year Update, 2009.
While disappointing it is not a great surprise: we have always been doubtful whether this scheme would ever materialise. That is why for two years we have pushed, successfully, for action NOW.
We will continue to press for early action: there are 8 or 10 further measures across our area which, at modest cost, could significantly reduce flood risk, by helping to restore the floodplain to its proper function, keeping water flowing through rather than accumulating. This should help to keep people dry from all but the most extreme events. The Environment Agency of course shares this aim. We will continue to work closely with the Agency; we believe we need to define a new Medium-term Flood Strategy for Oxford. We will be looking to our politicians, both locally and nationally, to ensure that the necessary works are fully funded, so that the serious threat facing thousands of homes and businesses in Oxford is reduced. We have begun to formulate our response. We will have decided how to proceed by the second or third week of the new year.
OFA Annual Public Meeting, 2009
3 December 2009
We had a successful meeting on 26 November 2009. Over 80 people attended, from all our areas and including City Councillors, County Councillors and Prospective Parliamentary Candidates. We welcomed Charles Tucker, Vice-Chair of the National Flood Forum who spoke of the work of the NFF, including currently in Cumbria. The Wolvercote Commoners have recently joined the Alliance and we were pleased to have Nigel Walmsley attending on their behalf.
Bottles of “OFA 2009, Special Star Reserve” wine were presented to our new Flood Stars Susanna Pressel and Nigel Bray, who were thanked for all they had done for flooded people in the area. Mary Timbrell, our third Star, could not attend as she was away, but a bottle awaits her return.
The meeting resolved to send a message of support to Cockermouth and Keswick. (This has now been done.)
Members of the Steering Group presented a review of the past year’s achievements, and looked forward to next year.
A lively discussion followed with many contributions from the floor. OFA was thanked by the audience for what it had achieved so far.
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