An environmental artist’s painting of a meadow in Oxford will be auctioned in a bid to stop the land being used as a flood channel.

Elaine Kazimierczuk painted the artwork of Hinksey Meadows on location and has now donated it to the Campaign to Save Hinksey Meadow.  

More than 4,000 people have signed a petition to stop a new stream being created through the meadows as part of the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme.

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The £176 million scheme by the Environment Agency, which has been submitted for approval to Oxfordshire County Council, is intended to reduce flood risk in the city.

Ms Kazimierczuk, who works out of a studio in Charlbury, focuses much of her work on the natural environment.

She said: “I want future generations to continue to enjoy our natural heritage.

“I hope my work will encourage others to make an emotional connection, as I do, to these precious places, one which inspires us to value and protect the natural world.

“We need to celebrate these unique habitats that are the last of their kind in the wild before it’s too late.”

The results of the auction will be announced at Save Hinksey Meadows’ live-streamed public meeting on April 17 at the assembly rooms in Oxford Town Hall at 7pm.

The meeting will see campaigners discuss a response to the flood scheme’s public consultation.

The scheme would see a five km stream run from the existing floodplain to the west of Oxford to divert water away from homes, businesses, services, and major transport routes.

It would begin north of Botley Road and end south of the A423 near Kennington, where the new stream joins the River Thames.

The campaign group say they support “85 per cent” of the scheme’s measures but want the Environment Agency to drop plans to cut through Hinksey Meadows.

One particular concern is the destruction of its rare MG4a floodplain grass – of which there is just 192 hectares left in the UK.

Catriona Bass of the Thames Valley Wildflower Meadow Project said: “Floodplain meadows play a vital and complex role in our 21st century society, and not least in mitigating floods. Their loss is of national and international significance”

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “Oxford has a long history of flooding, damaging homes and businesses and closing the railway and major roads into the city.

“The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme is a long-term solution to help the city adapt to our changing climate and make it more resilient to floods.

“The scheme will also see improved footpaths, a new cycleway and almost 40 hectares of wetland habitat or floodplain meadow we are planning with environmental charity the Earth Trust.”

For more information on the painting, visit: https://superstars-auctions.com/savehinkseymeadows

For more information on the flood scheme, visit: https://bit.ly/40uGPS4