Sir – I am concerned that anyone should place great faith in the proposed Western Conveyance Channel as a panacea approach to flooding in Oxfordshire.

A recent meeting with the Environment Agency on this subject left me with a number of major questions still unanswered.

First, the channel still does not have guaranteed funding. If the costs over-run, which is unfortunately typical in our development processes in this country, it is not clear who will provide funds to fill the gap.

Second, there is a very serious gap in knowledge about the possible effects of the channel.

The Environment Agency has yet to calculate what the effects of the channel will be on the movement of flood waters which will be moving at speed down the channel towards Radley, Abingdon and Wallingford.

In other words, what may protect Oxford could be a problem down river.

Third, and much more worrying, the Environment Agency is not a planning authority.

Increases in development in areas near the channel, such as at the Northern Gateway scheme, in North Oxford, which was recently given the go-ahead, will increase impermeable surfaces and help to speed run-off, which would originally have soaked into open land.

This means more water moving more quickly into the relief channel year-on-year after it has been built, with negative implications about its capacity to cope.

Numerous housing proposals put forward throughout Oxfordshire will only add to this problem.

In fact, it would require a strategic environmental assessment to take all these factors into account – something we desperately need if development of this sort continues unchecked.

Dr Kate Prendergast
Sustainable Flood Plan Group
Oxford