Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
News Release – For immediate use 07.03.2024
Call for Berkshire Channel of River Thames Scheme to be reinstated with full government funding
The Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead is calling for the Berkshire Channel of the River Thames Flood Alleviation Scheme – previously known as ‘Channel One’ – to be reinstated with full government funding, recognising its national significance.
Channel One was removed from the scheme several years ago, as it was considered neither viable nor deliverable without significant additional external funding, or the greater flexibility which the council sought over council tax at the time.
The inclusion of the Berkshire Channel would reduce flood risk for communities downstream of Windsor, including Datchet, Horton, Wraysbury and Old Windsor, which were most recently affected in January 2024 following significant rainfall.
The call comes as the Government has officially recognised the Surrey section of the now-reduced scheme as a “project of national significance”, requiring the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council to apply for a Development Consent Order as part of a national planning process.
In the Royal Borough’s formal response to the pre-application consultation, Councillor Richard Coe, Cabinet member for environmental services, asks to open conversations with the government and Environment Agency about reinstating the Berkshire Channel to help protect vulnerable communities in the Royal Borough.
He writes: “It is likely that flooding events will become a more regular occurrence over the coming years, which will have a devastating impact on many areas of our borough with the areas of Datchet, Wraysbury, Old Windsor and Cookham seeing some of the most significant impacts.
“To ensure communities in our borough are better protected from future flooding events, it is our firm belief that the previously proposed Berkshire element of the scheme must be delivered in full.”
The national funding model for distributing national flood risk grants means local councils and communities are required to source significant partnership contributions towards schemes, which in the case of the most costly, nationally-significant schemes can delay or stop schemes from progressing.
Recognising that the water has already flowed from Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the rest of Berkshire before reaching the Royal Borough, Councillor Coe says it is unreasonable to expect a small unitary authority to pay for the national flood risk infrastructure.
Councillor Coe writes: “Local authorities simply aren’t funded to deliver multi-million-pound flood alleviation schemes. That aside, this is clearly a scheme of national significance, and we believe that it should therefore be delivered through national funding.
“This is why we are asking for Government to commit to funding the proposals in full – including Channel One – recognising that this is an issue of national importance and as stated in the vision it will enhance the resilience of nationally important infrastructure.”
Councillor Ewan Larcombe, a ward councillor for Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury, said: “I fully support the council’s response on the River Thames Scheme. The Berkshire Channel is critical to managing flood risk in my ward, where flooding has been very much a long-term reality and continuing concern for residents and businesses alike.”
“The government has correctly recognised the River Thames Scheme as a project of national significance and it follows that full funding should come from government too, so we can provide certainty for communities and realise the benefits as soon as possible.”
Notes to editors
- Alongside lobbying over the River Thames Scheme, the Royal Borough continues to work with the Environment Agency to progress a separate project, 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 Environment Agency is working to refine a long-list of potential longer-term measures into an emerging shortlist of options to share with the community during the summer for input and feedback, in order to help finalise that shortlist.
- In the shorter-term, the council has completed 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.
Slough Observer Report 8-3-2024
Windsor Council demands government funding of flood channel
By Daisy Waites
A Council that previously pulled out of plans to build a flood alleviation scheme to protect the Windsor villages is now calling for it to be reinstated.
In August 2020 the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead chose to pull out of the River Thames Flood Alleviation Scheme, which would have provided protection against flooding to Datchet, Horton, Wraysbury and Old Windsor.
They say they pulled out of the scheme because it was considered “neither viable nor deliverable without significant additional external funding”, or the greater flexibility which the council sought over council tax at the time.
Four years on, the Council is going back on their decision in calling for the Berkshire Channel of the River Thames Flood Alleviation Scheme – previously known as ‘Channel One’ – to be reinstated with full government funding, recognising its national significance.
It follows the local community’s battle against the January floods that damaged homes, vehicles and trust in official authorities.
At the end of January, Wraysbury residents turned out in force to demand answers from RBWM, Thames Water and the Environment Agency.
As Surrey County Council moves forward with their plans for the now reduced River Thames Scheme, the Government deemed the project of “national significance”, requiring the Environment Agency and local authority to apply for a Development Consent Order as part of a national planning process.
In the Royal Borough’s formal response to the pre-application consultation, Councillor Richard Coe, Cabinet member for environmental services, asks to open conversations with the government and Environment Agency about reinstating the Berkshire Channel to help protect vulnerable communities in the Royal Borough.
He wrote: “It is likely that flooding events will become a more regular occurrence over the coming years, which will have a devastating impact on many areas of our borough.
“To ensure communities in our borough are better protected from future flooding events, it is our firm belief that the previously proposed Berkshire element of the scheme must be delivered in full.”
The national funding model for distributing national flood risk grants means local councils and communities are required to source significant partnership contributions towards schemes, which in the case of the most costly, nationally-significant schemes can delay or stop schemes from progressing.
Recognising that the water has already flowed from Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the rest of Berkshire before reaching the Royal Borough, Councillor Coe says it is unreasonable to expect a small unitary authority to pay for the national flood risk infrastructure.
Councillor Coe continued: “Local authorities simply aren’t funded to deliver multi-million-pound flood alleviation schemes. That aside, this is clearly a scheme of national significance, and we believe that it should therefore be delivered through national funding.
“This is why we are asking for Government to commit to funding the proposals in full – including Channel One – recognising that this is an issue of national importance and as stated in the vision it will enhance the resilience of nationally important infrastructure.”
Councillor Ewan Larcombe, a ward councillor for Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury, said: “I fully support the council’s response on the River Thames Scheme. The Berkshire Channel is critical to managing flood risk in my ward, where flooding has been very much a long-term reality and continuing concern for residents and businesses alike.
“The government has correctly recognised the River Thames Scheme as a project of national significance and it follows that full funding should come from government too, so we can provide certainty for communities and realise the benefits as soon as possible.”
END