Extract from Slough Observer 27-1-2024
27th January 2024 LOCAL GOVERNMENT By Daisy Waites Digital Reporter
Councillor’s plea for flood help in ‘undefended’ Windsor villages
After flooding brought everyday life to a standstill for many in villages in the Royal Borough, one councillor has taken a stand with a plea for more flood defences.
Councillor Ewan Larcombe represents residents in Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury and is the founder of the National Flood Prevention Party.
He has been campaigning for years for better flood defences and has previously shared his frustration at the Windsor villages being left out of the River Thames Scheme after the Jubilee River was built to protect Maidenhead and Windsor from flooding.
In an open letter to the Slough Observer, Cllr Larcombe expressed his concern of the three villages having been flooded for the fourth time this century, documenting how over a week after the flooding, residents were still battling with flood water trapped in their drains and homes.
He wrote: “Although we live on a flood plain we rarely flooded last century due the protection offered by features upstream.
“We were first flooded immediately after the construction and operation of the Jubilee River – a major element of the Maidenhead Windsor and Eton Flood Alleviation Scheme project that was designed and built by the Environment Agency to protect Windsor, Eton and Maidenhead.
In January 2003 Cllr Larcombe recalls the villages flooding when it was left “undefended” and in 2014 “devastating” floods hit the villages twice.
“Today we are recovering from yet another flood event. Fortunately, the recent event of January 2024 was not quite as bad as the February 2014 event but homes and businesses have been flooded and some roads (including the A308 from the M25 J13 towards Windsor) closed for many days.
“In my opinion, the situation is going steadily from bad to worse.”
Cllr Larcombe is calling on the council to combat changes occurring from climate change.
Councillor Richard Coe, Cabinet member for environmental services, said: “The recent flooding has been a very distressing situation for everyone impacted. I am acutely aware of people’s concerns and I want to assure you that we are doing everything we can to address flood risk in these communities, while sharing residents’ frustration at the slow pace and limitations imposed by national frameworks.”
“Flooding is a national issue and I am disappointed national government refuse to accept responsibility for fully funding these projects and instead have off-loaded funding parts of these large nationally significant schemes onto local communities.
“The Royal Borough and the Environment Agency are continuing to progress work with the objective of identifying and then implementing a technically and economically viable, affordable, and sustainable option to reduce flood risk in Datchet, Horton, Wraysbury and Old Windsor.”
The council has confirmed it is currently assessing potential long-term measures to reduce the risk and impact of flooding, with the Environment Agency helping to shortlist options which will be shared with the community during the summer.
Cllr Coe added: “All flood risk management projects are complex, multi-stage, significant infrastructure projects and, as such, they take time to identify suitable options working with the community, secure the required permissions and raise the significant investment required from multiple sources in order for them to go ahead.
“In the shorter term, the council has almost fully completed the works to reduce flood risk in Datchet by clearing silt from the Datchet Barrel Arch, and has been undertaking investigatory works at Wraysbury Drain to identify any issues and adjacent landowners with a view to undertaking improvement and maintenance works with support from the Environment Agency.”
In Cllr Larcombe’s letter, he claimed the Environment Agency had not dredged the Thames since 1996, something he felt would significantly help reduce rising river levels during rainfall.
However, an Environment Agency spokesperson added: “Dredging the River Thames would not significantly reduce flood-risk. In many cases, dredging is costly, disruptive and damaging to the environment. The Thames would require frequent re-dredging as the natural tendency of all rivers after dredging is to deposit silt and return to their original state.
“The work Environment Agency does to maintain rivers and streams and operate weirs and locks reduces risk from smaller, more regular floods, but more significant flooding cannot be reduced by maintenance alone.”
END
https://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/24075431.councillors-plea-flood-help-undefended-windsor-villages/