Thanks to Hester and Pat for this …
The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is about reducing flood risk in Oxford and Abingdon.
The EA is holding public events to present options and provide an opportunity for the public to give their views.
The public meeting local to our area is on Wed. 20th January at Abbey House, Abingdon OX14 3JE. It will be open from 2.30pm to 7pm.
Currently different options are being developed for the flood relief channel, including routes and flows. There was an exhibition last June where people were worried that if the flow of flood water round Oxford was increased it could impact Abingdon downstream. That could cause the Almshouses to suffer.
The option chosen will require planning permission and funding. The earliest start date is Spring 2018 with construction expected to take 2 to 3 years.
More information beforehand from the Environment Agency.
I was quite impressed with the measures taken in some parts of the country. They have taken measures to prevent the direct flow of water, such as dams and flooding forests so that the water is soaked up by tree roots. Britain has just completed a multi million pound flood defense project in Serbian city of Lazarevac. Bojan Stevic the Deputy Mayor is so delighted and puzzled. He said It does seem strange they spent so much money in our country on flood defences yet apparently were not investing enough in their own. It is terrible to see the people of Britain suffering.
It may be in the hope of our hard earned money is spent in another country their inhabitants won’t be so tempted to come here !
So, IF they did all come here, is that because the flood gates have been opened?
My house backs on to the Ock Meadow, and I was flooded out in 2007. However since then, the Ock breaking its banks is a rarity, whereas it used to be a regular occurrence. I think a lot of work has been carried out behind the scenes in flood alleviation. Or else it proves what we all thought – that 2007 was a freak event caused by the incident at Denham College,
Hot off the press peeps, word on the street is Abingdons favourite builder has secured the Upper Reaches site ! Word is the car park will be apartments and the old hotel will be a boutique one! BTW, apparently a deal had been done on the Gaol restaurants? A Thai one and a Sweedish one,
Martin – I think the removal of the pedestrian bridge next to St. Helen’s Mill removed a major pinch point that was a key factor in the 2007 flood, which we also suffered. Although there is still a small pinching effect there it is noticeably less than it used to be.
The EA still haven’t completed the work they were supposed to do, though. There was also meant to be a short length of wall to protect St. Helen’s Mill which still hasn’t been done.
There is also a problem that the flood relief ditch that runs through Mill Stream Court and along Caldecott Road to the bridge isn’t maintained properly too.
Captain, thanks for keeping us informed. I wonder if, whoever owns the land, will get it valued, and then sell it to Cranbourne for a huge amount less; or does it not belong to the Veil?
It belongs to the Vale and was on a very long lease to Caparo (or one of their incarnations). If Capt. K’s rumour is correct it will be interesting to know if the freehold has been sold, or just the remainder of the lease.
Hi Hester, if you look at the fortunes of Caparo you can see they’re not in good shape, their main buzz is/was steal works, but their steal works was ( as was much publicised) the last foundry in the UK to close, apparently they have a really long lease on the site ? I did hear from a very reliable source, that the lease (100 year plus) is in the name of a third party? A family that many years ago had business interests their, and they sub letted it to Caparo ? So I’m guessing Caparo have walked away and the leaseholders have done the deal ?
CaptK; Re: the restaurants at the Old Gaol, do you know which ones are coming in and whether they are chains or not?
I believe the Thai one is part of a chain? I was given the name something like kho thai? Meant to be very good !
This one?
http://www.koh-thai.co.uk/
Certainly looks good 🙂
More restaurants …. !
What Abingdon needs is another Morris Side. Two is too few.
The Thai place does look good and I am interested to see that they like using historic buildings. Some of us have pressed since the OG was sold for the final usage of the old buildings to incorporate some recognition of their history (preferably visual, not just text) and the OG Management Co’s proposals for this, currently on the Vale Planning website, are somewhat underwhelming, so maybe this lot can be persuaded to do better.
By the way, I wonder if the commemorative plaque which used to be in the floor of the foyer is still there – or incorporated elsewhere in the building. I sincerely hope so.
Hester, here’s a thing, did you see that planning application for artwork etc in the OH was by the OG number 2 ltd? When AB first, via a freedom of information request asked how much the builders and vale finally agreed on a price it wasn’t actually confirmed that the sale price was actually paid? Or indeed any part of it has been paid? Moreover Matt Barber is on record as stating the vale was looking to buy the lease back from Caparo, does that
Mean they’ve done that and them sol it on to the builders?
Neal and all the other councillors who read this o think the vale needs to make a statement on this ASAP ?
Returning to the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, in the EA’s first presentation it was obvious that they had not considered how Oxford’s potential scheme risks would impact on Abingdon or other Thames towns; Abingdon’s flood alleviation plans were also some way behind the timescale of Oxfords. Surely the recent devastating experiences in Cumbria, Yorkshire and Scotland point to the need of a holistic view of flood defence planning covering plans and risks on a total waterway basis (e.g. the Thames, its tributaries and designated flood plains).