Thankyou to Daniel for some more drone flood pictures from January. Two are of the River Ock, showing the water getting close to the houses on the Ladygrove Estate and Tesco. The other is of the River Thames.
In parliament yesterday (24th Feb 2021), Layla Moran, the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, got the opportunity to debate with a Minister of the Environment the issue of flooding in Oxford and Abingdon. This was done as an adjournment debate.
Layla pointed out that Oxford West and Abingdon has historically flooded, and in most recent times devastatingly so in 2007 and again, notably, in 2014. Layla said she raised this question again because she felt little progress had been made since an earlier debate with a previous minister. She mentioned delays in the Oxford flood alleviation scheme which could be delayed by up to five years because of bridge works that need to be completed in Kennington.
Regarding Abingdon, she said her constituents worried about a repeat of 2007. She said the scheme for a flood storage area upstream of Abingdon on the River Ock had been investigated but for crude cost reasons was not deemed viable. She said residents went from having a scheme to suddenly not having one at all. She said ‘We are not spending enough on communities like Abingdon. If the Minister stands by the calculations, will she at the very least ask the Environment Agency to help draw up new plans for what can be done in Abingdon that it can afford?’
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Rebecca Pow, started by saying what the government are doing nationally about flooding – spending more in the new 2021 to 2027 investment programme.
She said she was mindful of the challenges that the town of Abingdon has faced, and faces, and particularly the flooding experience of 2007, when more than 400 homes were flooded by the River Ock. Over recent years, the Environment Agency has taken action to reduce flooding in Abingdon, including increased levels of river maintenance, the provision of a flood wall along St Helen’s Mill, and a robust deployment plan for temporary defences, should they be needed.
In 2018, the Environment Agency investigated the development of a flood storage area upstream of Abingdon on the River Ock. The investigations found that while a flood storage area was technically feasible, the benefits would not be much greater than those delivered by the Environment Agency’s routine river maintenance. It did not represent value for money to the taxpayer.
She said the Environment Agency is reviewing further suggestions from a local community flood group, called the Ock Valley Flood Group. It is looking at whether there is scope for a temporary flood barrier alignment to be made into a permanent defence, and the agency is gathering evidence on whether this would be technically and economically viable.
The Environment Agency have also been investigating whether natural flood management options would be effective in reducing flood risk in Abingdon.
The full debate is at https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-02-24/debates/58D02CC8-5626-4FE3-902A-CD4B44920CFD/OxfordWestAndAbingdonFlooding
The hatred of Layla Moran from commentators on the Oxford Mail and Herald Series websites is really quite disgusting. I am of the opinion that she has attempted to do more for Oxford West and Abingdon than the abominable Baroness Blackwood did in seven years. No doubt once again there will be comments claiming that Layla is just looking to raise her profile.
From my recollection, on a number of issues the Oxford Mail seemed to attract a particularly venomous breed of below the fold commentators. I avoided the letters and comments as much as possible.
Yes.Looking at a good number OM commenters they have more than thelr fair share of ignorance , conspiracy theorists, professional miserable argumentative keyboard warriors and a dose of fruitcakers thrown in . Many seem just to want the attention and crop up frequently with all sorts of wild statements divorced from any reality or even relevance to the article in question . I don`t give `them the satisfaction of getting involved with them. But yes the comments are often just pathetic in both tone and content.
Baroness Blackwood is not “abominable”, she was an excellent MP — but Layla is even better. We are very fortunate in Abingdon.
Fortunate? Can anyone actually list any things she has achieved which has benefitted Abingdon? She is just a publicity magnet, jumps on bandwagons, claims she will fix this and that and does nothing until the next bandwagon rolls around the corner.