Floods in Oxfordshire
Like many of my constituents, I was caught in the floods that hit Oxfordshire. I had to abandon my car in Longcot at about 3pm, and got a lift home to Sparsholt in a 4×4. My own home was saved from flooding by a quick- thinking neighbour, who dug a trench at the end of the road to allow water a foot deep to drain away. I spent the rest of Friday visiting villages nearby with County Councillor Iain Brown in his jeep. On the Sunday, I was able to get to most places to see what had happened, and spent the afternoon filling sand bags with other volunteers at the Regis Depot in Challow. We probably filled a thousand sand bags between us.
I saw Hanney at its worst on Friday, looking much better on Sunday. When I got to Marcham on Sunday, most of the water had drained away, but I know a few houses were badly hit. Lyford was devastated. The Ladygrove in Didcot suffered terrible problems, mainly because of the poor drainage, which I am taking up urgently with Thames Water. Certain parts of Grove were badly hit, particularly Kingfishers, Vale Avenue and the houses by the Barley Mow. Steventon was also hit badly. I never made it to Stanford, or the other villages near Faringdon.
It is perhaps too soon to draw conclusions, but here are three thoughts. Although the rain and the consequent flooding is the worst we have seen for fifty years, we cannot assume it won’t happen again for fifty years. Events like this are likely to become more frequent. Secondly, increased housing development must be a factor. It prevents water draining away, and many of the drainage systems themselves are very poor quality. This must cause real doubts about whether developments east of Swindon, in Grove and Didcot, not to mention the reservoir, can go ahead. Thirdly, and related, the local councils and the Environment Agency must sit down and analyse the worst affected areas and ask themselves what we can do to defend ourselves in the future, and whether, in that context, these developments should be allowed. I am pleased the Government has said they will reimburse councils for the flood damage and I will be supporting the councils in their dealings with Government.
Nick said on July 24th, 2007 at 9:49 am:
Well, firstly I have been lucky in that we are not especially vulnerable to floodwaters in our corner of the consituency. For that I thank my lucky stars.
In terms of the bigger picture of longer term planning and prevention, I agree that we can never assume it won’t happen again for fifty years. Are events like this likely to become more frequent? I don’t know…but even if there was no underlying issue to do with rainfall trends, then even a ‘once every fifty year’ anomaly can happen several years in close proximity and then not recur for a very long time, so even those who deny climate change cannot assume that we won’t get a repeat performance in the near future.
Increased development does make it worse, I agree. Not just housing. I’d guess this is likely to magnify that ‘once in every fifty year’ effect. If we keep developing at this rate then eventually what would have been a ‘once in every twenty year’ rainfall will have a ‘once in every fifty year’ effect on flood levels as the land’s ability to drain floodwaters is impeded by the huge amount of it that it capped with non-porous tarmac! If we carry on then ‘normal’ weather will have abnormal consequences.
Is restricting development feasible though? We constantly hear of the need for further development to meet society’s needs. What we do need to learn is that the infrastructure that we put in place has to be more resilient in compensating for the effects of the development. Planning conditions with regard to drainage and broader environmental impact need to be more onerous and as a society we need to accept that this will make some of the developments we wish to see unfeasible.
Bottom line - we can’t have everything that we want at the cheapest price. That not only applies to development but also to food and commodities. We may have the technology to do many things but we have never managed to restrict the extremes of nature or to totally repair the impact that our activities have upon it.
Sue said on July 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pm:
Hi Ed
Thank you for coming to see us after the floods in Grove. I was sorry to personally miss you, but was taking a day off from the devastation.
I’d just like to say, as a homeowner whose house was flooded, that I feel totally alone and vulnerable and unsure what to do next. The insurance company is inundated and have done their best to offer advice. I’m still waiting to hear from the loss adjustor and cleaning company, but in the meantime no-one from Grove Council or the Vale has offered us any help or support, and right now, even emotional support would be a comfort. I don’t know how we’re going to move all the furniture downstairs to remove our carpet. I don’t know how to comfort my daughter who is terrified of this happening again. In fact, she has just sent me a text (I am using the computer at Grove Library as I’m unable to use it at home yet), and she has begged me to come home because she thinks it’s going to rain again. How do I help her? How do I stop her panicking every time it rains?
I’m sorry Ed I just don’t know what to do right now. And we were one of the lucky ones - we have fresh water and electricity, we have relatives living near by who are letting us live with them until our home is habitable again, but I’m feeling very let down by the council who have done nothing to help us in any way whatsoever.