Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme - Welcome

Overview

• Page 1 – Welcome
• Page 2 – Background and benefits
• Page 3 – Updates and CPO Information
• Page 4 – Your Questions

Introducing the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme

What is the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme?

The Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme will create a new stream with wetland wildlife corridor to the west of Oxford to reduce flood risk in the city and surrounding areas. 

The scheme will reduce flood risk to all properties in Oxford currently at risk of flooding from the River Thames, as well as to the railway, local roads including Botley and Abingdon Road, and utilities and services such as broadband. As well as directly benefiting residents this will keep the city open for business in times of flood, helping protect Oxford’s thriving economy. The scheme will also bring additional environmental improvements to the area, including creating new wetland which will link up existing wildlife sites. Wetland habitats support plants and animals adapted to living in a wet environment and are in decline across the country. Creating over 20 hectares of new wetland and around 16 hectares of floodplain meadow throughout the area will be a valuable benefit of the scheme.

The new stream and grazing pasture and gently sloping wetland will blend into the existing landscape and work with the natural floodplain. The stream and lowered ground alongside it reduce flood risk by creating more space for floodwater away from built-up areas.

Impression of the new stream, viewed from Devil's Backbone

The scheme will be approximately 5 km long, starting just north of Botley Road and passing under the A423 Kennington Railway Bridge (Southern by-pass) to the south before re-joining the River Thames.

This major project is being led by the Environment Agency working together with 9 organisations dedicated to reducing Oxford’s flood risk and providing wider benefits to Oxfordshire. Our scheme is designed to cope with floods of a major scale, to help protect the city in coming decades as flood risk increases with climate change. The scheme forms part of a wider programme to improve flood resilience being planned by the Environment Agency across the Thames Valley area.

The scheme partners are:

• Environment Agency
• Oxfordshire County Council
• Oxford City Council
• Vale of White Horse District Council
• Thames Water
• Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee
• Oxford Flood Alliance
• Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership
• University of Oxford
• National Highways

Latest news

Compulsory Purchase Order

We have made our Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. A CPO is a legal process that allows land, property and rights of access to be obtained from a landowner when there is a compelling case that the land is needed in the public interest and can only be applied for where land or access is vital for a scheme to function. It is normal practice when planning a scheme of this scale to run a CPO to ensure all land essential to the working of the scheme is acquired.

A public inquiry, led by an independent inspector, ran from November 2023 to January 2024 to consider the case for and against the CPO. The Secretary of State will now decide whether or not to confirm the CPO, with a decision expected in the autumn. 

More information on the CPO process and compensation can be found on the CPO system page. The latest news on the CPO can be found on our Updates page.

Planning application

In July 2024, Oxfordshire County Council’s Planning and Regulation Committee resolved to grant the scheme planning permission. The resolution is subject to certain standard requirements. This includes the application first being referred to the Secretary of State Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the signing of a Section 106 Agreement between the Environment Agency and the council. 

Under the Town and Country Planning (Consultation) (England) Direction 2021, planning applications for certain types of development must be referred to the Secretary of State. In the case of this scheme, it is because it is located in the green belt. It will be for the Secretary of State to determine whether they wish to make a determination. 

A Section 106 Agreement is a private agreement between a local authority and a developer attached to a planning permission. It must be directly relevant to the proposed development and can relate to compensation or mitigation of impacts. In this case, it relates to the management and monitoring required for the habitats being provided. 

You can read all information related to the planning application on the Oxfordshire County Council ePlanning system. The planning reference is MW.0027/22. 

Newsletter

You can read our e-newsletter to find out the latest updates for our scheme. Email us at Oxfordscheme@environment-agency.gov.uk to request to be added to our mailing list to receive our e-newsletter directly in the future.   

Next steps

The flood problem in Oxford will get worse with climate change and it’s only a matter of time before we see a major flood. We want to ensure Oxford’s communities are as protected as possible from the increased floods we’ll see in coming decades. This is why we’re working to bring a sustainable long-term solution to the city. Our aim is for the new stream and wetland wildlife corridor to be a cherished asset for the local community, benefiting people and the environment for decades to come. We will need to obtain planning permission in order to proceed with the scheme and value the support of local communities in achieving this.

Approvals needed before construction of the scheme can begin

Next page: Background and benefits