Banbury councillor raises questions about flood defences and drainage in town

It comes after Storm Bert caused severe flooding to homes, businesses and roads across the country last month.

In a written question during a county council meeting on Tuesday, December 10, Cllr Mark Cherry, who represents Banbury Ruscote, pointed out that although highway officers had investigated the flooding of properties on Warwick Road in Banbury, nothing had been done about the drainage system, and asked for a timescale for when a solution could be put in place. He added: “The drainage is over capacity and holds water at the first sight of heavy rainfall. I’ve been told this is due to tree root ingress on the majority of the storm drainage system. “Again, this is down to Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Water. “Residents are getting their driveways flooded out and the road in question holds water, but literally doesn’t dissipate into the drainage storm system.” Andrew Gant, county council cabinet member for transport management, responded to say that the county has a scheme to create a bypass drain and additional gullies at this location. He added that the work should begin at the start of the new year, but he could not give an exact date yet. He said: “Flooding occurs at this location due to Thames Water’s surface water drain being blocked by tree roots and our gullies are connected to their asset. “We have chased Thames Water and will continue to do so.” A Thames Water spokeswoman said: “We are working to investigate our surface water sewers on Warwick Road. “Due to its location, gaining access is taking longer than we’d hoped, however we will continue to keep the local authority updated on our findings.” A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “The county council works hard to clear highway drains and gullies and an extra £1.5m has been proposed for this work in the draft budget for 2025/6. “However, in late September the county experienced the most rainfall in a single day since 1968 and Storm Bert at the end of November brought yet more very high rainfall levels."

“No highway drainage system will cope perfectly with such levels of rain and the impacts experienced in Oxfordshire.”

“Street cleansing is the responsibility of the district councils, however, they too have limited resources to deal with issues such as leaf fall in the autumn months.

“The county council will be working with various other agencies including the district councils in responding to flooding.”