Cllr Pressel gives a selective account of the Flood Scheme in response to Professor Therivel (23/2/24). The Public Enquiry and planning documents show that the EA will remove 2,000+ trees and 11 kms of hedgerows.
The EA admits that its ‘mitigation’ of the irreplaceable rare West Oxford floodmeadows will probably fail: they set this aside as ‘bespoke mitigation’ .
EA plans and poor data were exposed by Oxford Preservation Trust’s independent experts at the Enquiry. Other mitigation, after the EA’s proclaimed 10% biodiversity gain was revealed as a net loss, involve planting trees (30+ years to maturity) onsite and at unspecified sites ‘in Oxfordshire’.
Cllr Pressel is lucky to live in a house unlikely to flood and to have greenfield (University Parks and Port Meadow) unlikely to be dug up and trucked onto the A34 (necessitating a 40mph speed limit for 3 years+), unlike the West Oxford residents she represents
Professor Jocelyn Wogan Browne. Osney in The Oxford Times February 29 2024