Witney News - Flood defence scheme for Madley Brook, Witney

Flood defence scheme for Madley Brook, Witney

Work will be carried out this year to reduce the risk of flooding to the Madley Park estate and Newlands area of Witney.

West Oxfordshire District Council has earmarked £27,000 towards works to mitigate the risk from Madley Brook, which has been identified as the cause of flash flooding in the past.

Work will involve the installation of flow controls to existing culverts laid under Jubilee Way, on the outskirts of Madley Park, as well as grading and clearing of the Brook and ditches linked to it. The scheme should help to control the flow of water into the Brook from surrounding agricultural area during heavy rainfall.

The flow control designs have been approved by Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, and funding will come from developer contributions from the Madley Park Consortium, which developed the Madley Park estate. The Council received £47,000 in contributions from the Consortium last year as part of a planning agreement to help with future maintenance of estate’s drainage system.

Cllr David Harvey, the District Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Extensive protection work by the Council and other agencies has been ongoing since the devastating floods experienced in West Oxfordshire in July 2007 and Madley Brook is the latest scheme in the pipeline. We are extremely pleased that this work will be carried out this year and we know that it will be of great reassurance to local residents in this area of Witney.

“The Council is pressing ahead with other flood defence work elsewhere in the District and efforts continue to address issues of concern wherever possible.”

The Council has been working closely in partnership with the Environment Agency, Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Water on the issue of flooding and protection since the July 2007 floods.

Flood protection work has either been carried out, or is continuing, in areas across the District including: Asthall; Bampton; Brize Norton; Broadwell; Burwell, Witney; Cassington; Filkins; Fordwells; Leafield; Westwell and Ramsden.

So far during the financial year 2010/11, £598,500.0 has been committed to flood protection work in West Oxfordshire. External Grants totalling £536,000 have been received from DEFRA and the Environment Agency to fund the majority of the work either completed, planned or in construction.