Grants totalling over half a million pounds are being awarded to help fund nearly 40 schemes to reduce flooding in Oxfordshire.
Oxfordshire County Council received more than 80 applications for its priority action grants earlier this year from groups and organisations working to make their communities more resilient to flooding. Following an assessment process, 39 schemes are being supported with grants of up to £25,000, subject to confirmation.
Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “The quality of submissions was extremely high, and we would have supported almost all the projects if we had enough money to do so.
“It is fantastic that these groups are so committed to improving the situation where they live. When it comes to knowing what is needed to tackle flooding in a particular area, local communities are often the experts.
“This grant scheme is now in its second year and is a part of our drive to help residents take effective action to tackle flooding and extreme weather, which is being exacerbated by climate change.”
Last year’s inaugural grant scheme handed out £250,000 for communities to deliver small-scale work themselves to reduce flooding from surface water run-off, ordinary watercourses and groundwater. Among this year’s recipients are the city and district councils, parish and town councils, schools, wildlife organisations, the National Trust and residents’ flood groups.
Locations include Abingdon, Bicester, Witney, Oxford, Chinnor, Wheatley, Culham, Bucknell, Caulcott, Clifton Hampden, Sunningwell, Buscot, Hook Norton, Waterstock, Yarnton, Whitchurch, Fewcott, Wendlebury, Adderbury, Bloxham, East Hanney, West Hanney, Hailey, Kidlington, Hornton, Swalcliffe, Kelmscott and Bampton.
Projects include surface drainage improvements, natural flood management schemes, ditch clearances and ditch construction, culvert inspections, water pumps, track repairs to reduce surface water flooding, the installation of timber dams, and flood sensors.
The funding will also cover surveys, scoping workshops, information booklets, flood response kits, and flood resilience mapping. The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is to receive two grants to carry out natural flood management and other work – one at Carswell Marsh and another at Little Milton, in association with Little Milton Parish Council.
Discussing the Little Milton project, Daniel Akam, BBOWT’s Senior Reserves Officer, said: “Like many watercourses, the Hasley Brook has been altered historically to drain agricultural land more efficiently. The speed that the water now flows off the land has contributed to flooding downstream in Little Milton, particularly during extreme weather events, which are now becoming much more common.
“Here at Wells Farm, much of the brook flows through woodland in a natural way and is allowed to spill over, making the woodland wet. This already helps slow and store the water in the nature reserve and is of great benefit to the local wildlife.
“The funding will allow us to naturalise another section that was historically canalised and deepened. We plan to achieve this by regrading sections of the steep canalised banks, allowing the water to spill over at times of high water; creating natural permeable log dam features; and raising the bed level of the brook by creating gravel riffles, reconnecting the channel with the flood plain.
“We also hope to create a new backwater which will connect to the brook in times of flood, providing even more places for the water to be stored. All of this will help slow down and store water naturally, at the same time improving the habitats found at Wells Farm and the health of the Hasley Brook.”
