THE Environment Agency is often criticised in the aftermath of serious floods in Cumbria, Tewkesbury, Lewes, Maidstone and York etc for the absence of effective flood management schemes, so the announcement that £120m has been found to fund Oxford’s Flood Alleviation Scheme (Oxford Mail, Feb 24) is welcomed by many.
It is ironic therefore that Oxfordshire County Council are considering a planning application for a huge quarry a few miles downstream between Abingdon and Clifton Hampden that will increase flooding in an area already badly affected.
Even at the best of times, the Clifton Hampden cross roads are a notorious bottleneck during the morning and evening rush hour, as aficionados of Radio Oxford Traffic and Travel can testify.
When the Thames floods and the bridges at Clifton Hampden and Culham are closed, things get a whole lot worse, and will be worse still if this quarry comes into being.
Houses that have never flooded in living memory despite having only a few inches freeboard, because our forebears knew where to build to keep dry, will flood.
Roads will be closed for longer adding to commmuters’ misery.
Homes will be cut off for longer.
Oxfordshire doesn’t need a new quarry or the additional flooding that goes with it. Why take the risk?
GILES BAXTER OBE
High Street, Clifton Hampden
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