A COMMUNITY campaigning for barriers to protect their village from flooding posed with umbrellas to raise awareness on Saturday.

Around 60 residents of South Hinksey took part in the demonstration after their homes were affected by serious flooding five times since 2000.

They are hoping the Environment Agency will buy flood barriers that can be put up behind the village hall to stop the waters threatening their homes.

The metal barriers they are hoping for are similar to the ones used to protect Osney Island from flooding earlier this year.

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The event was organised jointly by the Oxford Flood Alliance and South Hinksey Parish Council, and was supported by Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood and Lib Dem and Labour parliamentary candidates Layla Moran and Sally Copley.

Flood alliance chairman and South Hinksey resident Peter Rawcliffe said he would like to see the Vale of White Horse District Council carry out ground work to allow the barriers to be installed.

He said: “We are more likely to be given barriers by the Environment Agency if the ground work is ready and we have a team of people trained and ready to put them up.

“The flooding directly affects about half the houses in the village, but it affects everyone in one way or another. This village deserves defending. We were given concrete barriers this year, now we want to make sure we can protect ourselves every year.”

In February soldiers from Dalton Barracks built a 600m-long concrete barrier after 18 houses were flooded.

Adrian Porter, of Manor Road, South Hinksey, has helped co-ordinate the response to the flooding, as well as having his own house affected. The 43-year-old said: “The impact these floods have on the village is huge. It causes immense stress and disruption to everyone.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Torin Porter, three, balances on his dad Adrian’s head   

Sarah Balaam, 42, also of Manor Road, said she now lives beyond the reach of the flooding but previously had to install defences at her old house to hold the waters back.

She said: “The individual defences work well, but they don’t stop issues such as having to wade through flood water, and they don’t help the whole village.”

Ms Blackwood said: “Last year we managed to get the army in to install barriers and protect the village.

“What we now need is a long-term solution that can just relieve the pressure for residents.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Sarah Balaam with 16-month-old daughter Natasha

Environment Agency operations manager Barry Russell estimated the new barriers would cost between £300,000 and £400,000.

He added that following a recent site visit to South Hinksey the agency is now considering the villagers’ request.

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