Flood work 'a success'

6:49am Wednesday 27th February 2008

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FLOOD prevention work carried out in an Oxfordshire village a year ago has been hailed a success.

More than 20 homes in Nuneham Courtenay, near Oxford, were devastated when two torrential rainstorms hit the village in October 2006, forcing 13 families to abandon their homes for six months.

Drains failed to cope with the muddy rainwater. A year ago, local councils joined forces with landowners and residents to ensure it never happened again by clearing the village's ditches and fixing antiquated drainage systems.

South Oxfordshire District Council spent £5,000 on flood prevention measures and, with widespread flooding in the county occurring twice since, the work appears to have paid off.

Parish council chairman and flood victim Paul Gillett said: "We've had lots of work done. It's been a joint effort by lots of people."

Mr Gillett recalled how on the day of the first flood it rained solidly from 6-11am.

"The water just couldn't get around the village," he said.

"It came right through and ran straight into people's homes."

A year ago, the district council worked with landowners Oxford University, the county council, the parish council and local farmers to identify flood solutions in Nuneham Courtenay.

Technical projects manager John Backley said engineers using specialist underground CCTV cameras carried out a complete survey of the village's drainage system.

The research revealed that near Church Lane, at the top end of the village, the culvert running along the main road had been damaged by a sewer that had cut into the structure from below.

The culvert was fixed and three manholes installed in back gardens for ongoing maintenance. A large drainage pond on nearby farmland was also built up with a permanent structure of sandbags.

Mr Backley said: "The heavy rainfall in July 2007 was a really good test, and we're delighted to say there was no flooding in the village.

"The drainage improvement works again proved to be more than adequate in coping with the heavy rainfall last month."

He said the lesson to be learned from Nuneham Courtenay was that, when floods hit a community, one authority needed to take the lead in making sure it never happened again.

"The council saw there was a lot of people involved and took the bull by the horns," he said.

However, flood victim Rod Baker, 64, said: "The drainage has been improved but, given a repeat of the same circumstances, I don't think it would cope."