News Centre

17 Jul 2008 (archived)

Flooding: one year on

It is a year since the July 2007 floods, which affected 1,631 homes and 72 businesses in West Oxfordshire.

There are many different types of flooding involving: rivers, sewers, surface water, overland flow and burst water mains. Therefore improving resilience against future flooding involves many different agencies including the Environment Agency, Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Water.

Here, we take a look at the progress and some of the work carried out by the Council, a year on from the devastating floods.

There are currently 80 householders still out of their homes. Below are details of the experiences of some West Oxfordshire people who were affected by last year's floods:

Les and Rosemary Rose, Witney
Sharon Woolford, Bablock Hythe
Riverside Gardens Retirement Sheltered Housing, Witney
The Old Prebendal Nursing Home, Shipton under Wychwood

What West Oxfordshire District Council has done since July 07 and ongoing actions

Carried out land drainage duties

Cleared all ditches on council-maintained land and established on-going clearance schedule (2.500 km) at a cost of over £50,000. (See schedule on the Ditches and drainage web page.)
Currently identifying problem ditches, land ownership and approaching landowners requesting them to clear

Investing in flood prevention and working alongside other agencies

Engineering review of sources of flooding in each affected town / parish - leading to a publication of individual flood reports informing local communities of the actions that can be taken, and whenever possible, which agency or landowner or authority holds responsibility.
January 2008: Interim flood report published
June 2008: First 12 reports published
End Aug 2008: a futher 43 reports to be published
Meetings held with all affected parish councils, flood action and community groups and many affected householders and businesses
Worked closely with other authorities and agencies such as the Environment Agency, Oxfordshire County Council, and Thames Water.
Currently organising a series of parish workshops (starting Sept 08) to discuss review reports. These workshops will include most of the above agencies.
Reviewed planning application procedures to ensure flood preventative measures meet best practice. There is now increased emphasis on the need for the construction industry to positively address flood risk when drawing up new development proposals.
We have commissioned (jointly with Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council) a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, which will help us in our strategic land use planning. The report is being produced in liaison with the Environment Agency.
A climate change working party has been set up and will examine what the risks and impact of extreme weather events are, and ensure that vulnerable council services are alerted accordingly.

Providing financial support and lobbying activities

Received a £600,000 Government grant to administer to flood affected households and to use towards flood prevention measures in West Oxfordshire such as ditch clearing.
Currently administering a £250,000 Red Cross hardship grant to those eligible in Oxfordshire
Arranged 100% local council tax discount for properties vacant due to flooding
Lobbying activities - hosted MP and government Minister visits, contributed to Sir Michael Pitt Review, lobbied for flood relief funds
WODC representative helped to secure £115m for UK funds from EU

Communicating and promoting self-help

Created a flood section on website to provide self-help and public information
Featured updates on flooding action and self help information in newsletters
Hosted a Flood Fair (Nov 07) with the National Flood Forum
Distributed flooding advice leaflets to all affected households and businesses.
Dealt with hundreds of telephone calls, emails and press enquiries

Reviewed emergency response procedures

Published an interim flood review report Jan 08, reviewing emergency procedures
Improvements made following the report
Looking to develop a network of neighbourhood sandbag centres for local residents.

Cllr David Harvey, Cabinet Member for Environment said, "I have been extremely impressed with the way that officers and staff on the District Council have worked as a team with all of those affected by last July's flooding as well as the work with different agencies.

"Because so many residents in West Oxfordshire were badly affected last July the District Council has carried out a full review of the sources of flooding in the District, in consultation with other agencies. We believe this is an essential first step to inform communities of the actions that need to be taken and who has responsibility for these. We have continued to clear all the ditches on council-owned land and are currently identifying other problem ditches to ensure that they too are cleared.

"Although a great deal of work has started, there is still a lot to do to ensure that every possible measure is taken to prevent a recurrence of last year's tragic events. In the long term many different people have a role to play at different levels in setting the policies and actions that will stand us in good stead in the future."

For more information, see the Council's Flooding pages.

back to what's new listing