Flood alleviation
THE current plan for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is contentious. That is why there was a Public lnquiry.
The original idea was proposed 18 years ago. Since then flood defences have been considerably improved and a vast amount of extra data has been collected.
Promoting the original idea. we haw mainly two EA scientists from afar one an engineer and the other an aquatic biologist. who wish to impose on Oxford the sort of scheme which has proved successful elsewhere.
ln opposition. We have a group of knowledgeable and well-informed locals, some in Osney. They ·are in favour of 85 % of the proposed scheme.Their simpler alternatives could have had the Scheme built by now.
lf the current plan is completed by 2035. the first sign of flooding will still be the welling up of groundwater in Osney: the Botley Road Allotments,the Seacourt Park and Ride and the Abingdon Road.
When the main rainfall is in the eastern part of the catchment area and enters the Thames via the Thame, Ray and Cherwell, it is unlikely to affect the western side.
The EA scientists have exhibited little flexibility, despite the accumulation of a mountain of data from local landowners, hydrologists, economists, archaeologists and ecologists.
The original OFAS plan has gradually looked less and less appropriate and the arguments in favour of it more and more desperate.
During the three week long public inquiry, its opponents, supported by a KC, gave as good as they got.
They promoted alternatives which were cheaper, quicker to build and kinder to the local environment. We await the result with interest.
It should now be back to the drawing board. Oxford’s complex flood plan presents difficulties.
So a new set of EA staff should build on the accumulated data, and make use of local expertise from the start.
Tim King
Oxford