Lack of funding sinks plea for rivers to be dredged

Peter Collins said the EA doesn’t receive enough money from the Government to do the work effectively and that it would have to wait until the much-needed £123m flood relief channel was built around Oxford.

The flood relief channel will run from Botley Road to the River Thames at Sandford Lock, diverting flood water away from Oxford. Mr Collins said the dredging would be done “if the Government gave us more funding”.

But he added: “The cost would be colossal and we are already asking for £100m to do the same thing in the future when the channel is built.

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"And if we had 100 people excavating the streams, where would the soil go? It wouldn’t reduce the flood risk unless it was taken away properly, which is what will happen with the flood relief channel.”

Another operations manager, Barry Russell, said dredging the western corridor rivers of Oxford would not “reduce flood risk sufficiently compared to a formal flood alleviation scheme”.

But with an estimated timescale of 2022 for the channel to be completed, residents fear not enough is being done in the meantime.

The EA said it receives £60,000 a year for maintenance, which prevents small and moderate rainfall causing flooding, with an extra £20,000 set aside for instant response.

A spokesman said: “The main reason why all the main rivers in the western corridor are not widened or deepened is because of the ongoing maintenance this would require.

"We do not receive sufficient annual funding from the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, to support this and the environmental impact of it would be considerable.”

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said it had been pressing the EA to do as much dredging of the rivers as possible over the winter.

But he said: “The officers have accepted they need to do dredging but it will be a question of funding. It wouldn’t have made a big difference last winter but it will make a significant difference for lower-level flooding.”

In July, Oxfordshire County Council’s deputy leader Rodney Rose said work on the channel could begin in two years, with £76m already committed to the scheme.

At the time the EA said it was making removing fallen trees and large blockages a priority in and around Oxford.

John Power, 77, who lives in Ferry Hinksey Road, said: “If you look at the ditches across from Bullstake Stream, Hinksey Stream and Seacourt Stream, you’ll see total neglect. They need to be dredged and maintained.”

James Kelly, 48, who works at the West Oxford Community Centre, which had to partially close during this year’s flooding, said: “The channel is a long way off and we’ve all heard about this dredging work but I’ve not seen any of it being done.”

Mr Collins said people should take their own measures to protect their homes from flooding. He said: “Residents can make their properties more resilient by using flood guards or plastic skirting boards. Being prepared, having a plan and making your property as resilient as you can afford will make a huge difference.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “Whilst it is certainly crucial to get the channel in place, it is still also really important to have effective maintenance of the watercourses, together with other measures applying the lessons of recent floods.”

Peter Rawcliffe, chairman of the Oxford Flood Alliance, said they were working closely with the EA. He said: “They are dealing with obstructions effectively and the people on the ground are doing a good job.”

But he said they were in discussions with the agency about how more dredging could be done without extra funding.

He said: “They are looking at identifying owners of land outside of the city as it’s their legal responsibility to maintain their sections of river.”

The EA said the severe floods of 2007 and 2013 would probably only occur once every 25 years – and said the new channel would enable the city to cope with freak floods expected to occur just once every 75 years.

• A new manhole was being dug in Cornmarket Street, Oxford, to help prevent flooding. Thames Water engineers are digging the new passage to give direct access to the sewer.

Spokesman Stuart White said: “Once it’s in place we’ll be better able to maintain the sewer, helping us to prevent flooding in the future.”

The project is due to be complete by Thursday.

WHY DENNIS IS DOING IT HIMSELF

DENNIS O’Donoghue, 86, who lives in Ferry Hinksey Road, Oxford, with his wife Mary, has taken matters into his own hands to protect their home from flooding. 

The retired civil engineer has built a wall around his garden – which backs on to Osney Stream. 

He said: “I couldn’t say how much time and money I’ve spent.” 

• Dennis O’Donoghue with home-made flood defences. Picture: OX70180  Neil Braggins

The grandfather-of-three claimed more needed to be done by the authorities. He said: “I would be glad if the EA, or whoever is responsible, dredged the stream.

“Even if they filled the area to the left of my retaining wall with sandbags or cement bags it would stop the water going into my garage – but as always it’s a problem of funding.”

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