An article in the Oxford Mail on the recent public events.
Tag Archives: OFAS
Final OFAS public consultation events
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- (L to R) OFA’s Brian Durham, Simon Collings and Adrian Porter at Oxford Town Hall, 30 June 2015
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- Final event at South Oxford Commmunity Centre, 3 July 2015
This week saw the last two public drop-in events of this series, at the Town Hall and South Oxford Community Centre. Again they seemed well-received by visitors and valuable comments were made and recorded. The partners in the scheme, including OFA, have enjoyed meeting the many visitors, hearing their views and concerns. Hopefully people have been reassured by what they have learnt: certainly that has been our predominant impression.
Meanwhile, consultants have recently begun work on the next step – of preparing more detailed plans. The comments and suggestions received at these drop-in events are being collated and will be used in this planning.
Expect more public events in the autumn.
ICE President David Balmforth visits Oxford
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- Seacourt Stream looking towards the Botley Road bridge, June 2015
David Balmforth, newly elected President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, visited Oxford on 12 June to learn for himself about the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (OFAS). The event began at the Environment Agency offices at Osney with a presentation by Peter Collins of the Environment Agency, followed by a Q&A session. David asked about the ongoing maintenance of the proposed scheme (see the Oxford Mail article): it was made clear that the lifetime maintenance of the scheme was a critical part of the planning process and that Treasury approval would not be sought without it.
Peter Collins pointed out that of the total project duration, half was likely to be spent on consultation, planning and approval; the earliest that work on the ground would begin would be April 2018.
The entourage then went to the Seacourt Stream on the Botley Road for a site visit. Here Oxford Flood Alliance’s Adrian Porter talked to David Balmforth about some of the key challenges caused by flooding in the Oxford area, including:
- How properties, families and communities are affected
- The increasing frequency of flood events due to changing weather patterns
- The importance of ongoing maintenance of existing watercourses.
David was particularly interested in property-level defence and how the insurance industry needs to change to properly support affected homes and business premises.
The visit was well received and hopefully David Balmforth left Oxford with a good understanding of OFAS and how it fits into the wider strategy for protecting Oxford from flooding.
Public consultation events continue
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- Abingdon Guildhall, 25 June 2015
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- West Oxford, 26 June 2015
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- West Oxford, 26 June 2015
Following on from the first meeting in Kennington, there have been meetings in Abingdon and the West Oxford Community Centre. Partners in the schemes, including OFA, have listened to concerns and suggestions from members of the public and explained, as far as is known at this stage, what the Oxford and Abingdon Flood Alleviation Schemes aim to achieve and what they may consist of. Generally those attending have been very positive about the schemes.
Oxford Mail report on the meeting at WOCC
The final two events are this afternoon, 30 June, at Oxford Town Hall and on Friday, 3 July, at South Oxford Community Centre, both 2.30-7.30 pm.
First OFAS drop-in session, Kennington
The first OFAS drop-in session in Kennington this afternoon.
Representatives from the Environment Agency, the County Council, Thames Water, consulting engineers, and three of us from Oxford Flood Alliance, were there to explain the scheme, answer questions and listen to suggestions.
The event was really popular, with a steady stream of visitors from 2.30 to close of play at 7.30 pm. There was a lot of discussion, and many valuable suggestions based on local or specialised knowledge (from concerns about particular local flood risk, to ecology, to canoeing) were made. Hopefully too people left with a good idea of the rationale for the scheme and what it may entail. Certainly many said that they had appreciated the event and hoped there would be more – and indeed the plan at the moment is to run similar events in the autumn.
The next events in the present series are this Thursday in Abingdon and Friday at the West Oxford Community Centre (see two posts back).
Oxford FAS Update May 2015
Click Oxford FAS Update May 2015 to download the latest update on the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme.
Public drop-in meetings for Oxford and Abingdon Flood Alleviation Schemes
Public drop-in sessions are now arranged for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (OFAS). These sessions are for people to find out about the scheme, ask questions and make suggestions. All are from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm – come when you like.
- Tuesday June 23 Kennington Village Hall OX1 5PG
- Thursday June 25 Abingdon Guildhall OX14 3HL (both Oxford and Abingdon schemes)
- Friday June 26 West Oxford Community Centre OX2 0BT
- Tuesday June 30 Oxford Town Hall OX1 1BX
- Friday July 3 South Oxford Community Centre OX1 4RP.
Oxford’s MPs
Congratulations to Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon) and Andrew Smith (Oxford East) who have both retained their parliamentary seats in yesterday’s general election.
Flooding presents a real threat to the welfare of the people and city of Oxford. Climate change is likely to increase that risk in future. Both our MPs have already expressed their support for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. We look forward to continuing to work with them and others on this so-important multi-partner project.
The scheme could become a reality within this next parliament: that would be fantastic for the city we are so lucky to live in, helping to ensure it continues to thrive.
Thames Regional Flood & Coastal Committee visit Oxford
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- Introducing the Redbridge area
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- Pointing out Stroud’s bridge (next)
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- Stroud’s bridge – inadequate capacity under the railway
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- Munday’s bridge under the railway at Kennington, working well following multi-partner restoration (see archive)
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- Leaving Munday’s
The Thames Regional Flood & Coastal Committee (RFCC) met in Oxford yesterday. Following the meeting, members visited sites in Oxford related to OFAS. Members of our steering group were on hand to welcome them and, with staff from the Environment Agency, showed the visitors some of the problems which need to be surmounted to alleviate Oxford’s recurrent flooding.
Flooding which, unchecked, is likely to threaten further the proper functioning, and the reputation, of the city in the future if (as a consensus of scientists predicts) climate change makes extreme weather more common. OFAS offers the only practicable way towards reducing this all too real danger in time.
Thames Water’s Oxford (sewer) Catchment Study – meeting
Two of us met with two people from Thames Water today. Thames Water are getting on with the first stages of their Oxford Catchment Study, designed to find out why we get sewer flooding in many parts of Oxford. Some technical studies have already been done, house to house interviews with residents in affected areas will begin quite soon. A dedicated website should be up and running shortly, possibly as early as next week.
We are delighted that this study is happening – Oxford is one of only five places in Thames Water’s area to be having such a detailed study. This is a necessary first stage in, hopefully, getting action to remedy the problems. We are helping in any way we can.
This study will be used, along with other evidence, to guide Thames Water when they consider how much the proposed Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme would help solve sewer problems – and hence, presumably, how much they could consider contributing to that multi-partner scheme.
Thames Water agree how important it is that when new building is proposed that there is adequate prior consideration given, i.e. at the planning stage, to whether the sewer system will be able to cope.
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