Shocking flash floods deluged an Oxford suburb which is the site of a major housing development proposal.

Householders in Barton Village Road, Barton, watched as firefighters used sandbags to control severe flooding on Friday night.

The water submerged the street after torrential rain caused a nearby brook to overflow.

“There’s always flooding problems in Barton, but it’s never been this bad,” said city councillor Mike Rowley, who represents Barton.

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Angela Dickinson, who lives in Green Ridges, in Barton, said: “I have a project called Beautiful Barton, and people were posting in the Facebook group last night about the flooding.

“I walked over to Barton Village Road this morning (Saturday, October 14) to have a look. I checked what the damage was, and it seems the firefighters’ sandbags stopped any significant damage from taking place.

“A couple of houses had water inside, and at the time people’s front gardens were completely awash with plant pots floating around.

"Some people had drain issues and ended up with toilet waste in their homes. It smelled swampy."

“We’re getting a lot more of these bursts of torrential rain and the systems here can’t cope. Whenever there’s heavy rain, we’re seeing an increase in flooding in Barton."

Ms Dickinson said the householders she spoke with this morning were really impressed with the fire service.

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She told the Oxford Mail that usually during a flood in the area the fire service would pump the water back into the brook, but the brook was overflowing.

“They had to cut through the bank to allow the water to flow back into the brook. The water in the brook was still quite high this morning, and moving very fast.”

She added that the brook is very close to the houses on Barton Village Road.

Land to the north of Bayswater Brook, on the opposite side to last night’s flooding, is the subject of an application by Christ Church College which, if approved, could see 1,450 homes built in the area.

Developers Dorchester – brought on by the college – intend to begin construction in 2024 with the development anticipated to be completed by 2035, if permitted.

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Ms Dickinson said: “We’re campaigning against the development precisely for this reason. This is a massive development, twice as big as Barton Park.

“Water will flow down from this one into Barton, just as water coming out from Barton Park all runs down to Barton too.

“The flooding will get worse.”

Mr Rowley added: “I will be asking for a review of the flood protection proposals for the development north of the brook.

“I’d like to be confident they have anticipated this scale of flooding.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1