There has been a lot of flooding in Oxford recently. And so the Environment Agency, with funding from councils, are aiming to create a flood relief channel to the west of Oxford from the Botley Road to Sandford on Thames.

A few miles downstream from Oxford is Abingdon. So Abingdon has been included with Kennington, and a few venues in Oxford, to get this first consultation before design work starts. If you missed it there will be another consultation later in the year after design work is done.

Consultants wanted to assure the Abingdon public, that although the relief channel would allow River Thames flooding to reach Abingdon sooner. the water levels would not go any higher (using their flood modelling techniques) or they would have to go back to the drawing board. They also wanted to pick up some local knowledge, and so were glad to meet with local flood groups.

The only risk with their outline scheme, that I could see, is that Abingdon normally gets flood water from the River Ock and River Stert first, and then from the Thames a day or so later. What will happen if these different rivers are at their high point nearer the same time?

Organised  by Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council, the Winter Weather Exhibitions will give you information from experts about protecting your home this winter whether it brings flooding, snow or severe cold.

There are two such exhibitions: 6th January at Long Furlong Community Centre and 8th January 2015 at Preston Road Community Centre. Both run from 5.30pm to 8.00pm.

In town this morning there was also a reminder that the Town Council will recycle your Christmas Tree next Saturday on the Market Place.

The library was open and a good place to get dry, on what was a very wet morning.

I read in the Herald from 100 years ago, that there had been 6 inches of rain in December 1914 and there were floods at the start of January 1915. The removal of the canal bridge near the Drayton Road and inadequate drainage led to Tithe Farmhouse being badly flooded. The overflow of water from the River Ock, where it meets the Thames, meant the lawns of the Long Alley Almshouses were under water, and water had been forced up through the floor of the Anchor Inn. But Thames Conservancy were praised for managing the floods much better than 1894, twenty years before.

The Abingdon Walks website has postcards of The Great Abingdon Flood of 1894.

The Abingdon Herald features three Abingdon Flood Prevention schemes which have a better chance of going ahead now that central government has promised an extra £2.3 billion towards improving flood defenses.

There is some information about these projects from the Environment Agency at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/programme-of-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-schemes .

The most significant project would be the River Ock Flood Storage Area. That must mean holding water the other side of the A34 and releasing it more slowly. The project still needs a detailed business case, and funding agreement with partners. It could reduce the risk of flooding for 240 houses at a cost of £3.42m. Earliest start of construction would be 2016 to 2018. (Pictures from Ock Street, Drayton Road and near Caldecott Road in July 2007)

Alleviation for flooding of 2 properties by the River Stert, in Abingdon, could go ahead much sooner at a cost of £140K. The third Abingdon project would be a wall by St Helen’s Mill to protect 10 households from the River Ock – costing £0.57m.

The £42 million for the Oxford Western Conveyance is more complex, and has an earliest start of construction from 2018 to 2021.