Today we (Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury) are yet again at risk of flooding – with history repeating itself after 40 years of obfuscation and filibustering.
Firstly – a bit of historic background:
- This area flooded badly in 1947.
- The Jubilee River was conceived in the mid-1980’s as the main element of the Maidenhead, Windsor & Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme.
- The MWEFAS project was examined at a Planning Inquiry in 1992 and received Ministerial approval in 1995 (with some Ministerial Directions).
- Constructed by the newly created Environment Agency, the 7 mile long artificial channel was ceremonially opened and named in 2002.
- On first use in late 2002 and early 2003 the channel met its primary objective of protecting Maidenhead, Windsor and Eton. Unfortunately, not only did most of the channel structures suffer significant damage at reduced flow rates (please see extract from Atkins 2004 Report here), but also – unattenuated flood flows were discharged onto the undefended villages downstream.
- Downstream flooding events occurred – 2003, 2014 (twice) and 2024.
- Today (over twenty years later) the downstream villages remain undefended.
- The channel continues to consume vast sums of public money in an attempt to keep it working at the reduced capacity. (In fact the channel was never able to convey its design capacity.)
- Today – the River Thames Scheme (which commenced in 2008 as LTFRMS) and MWEFAS (which commenced after RTS Channel One was removed from the RTS in July 2020) are under review.
- To make matters worse, the maintenance of the local land drainage infrastructure is bordering on non-existent.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
END