Memorandum submitted by Peter J D McNally
(FL 125)
FLOODING AT
HANNINGTON WICK
It will probably come as no surprise to you
that I and my other neighbours at Hannington Wick were all flooded
in the evening of the 20th and 21st of July this year. Despite
being in an area with a high water table this has not occurred
ever before and certainly not in the knowledge of one of my neighbours
who has kept records for the last 50 years.
The various ditches running through Hannington
Wick down to the Thames flow from South to North were well able
to cope with the heavy rain fall on Friday morning without any
of the houses in Hannington Wick being flooded. After the downpour
in the morning the water levels at Hannington Wick were beginning
to subside when at 7.40 pm my family and neighbours were telephoned
to be told to evacuate as the water levels were expected to increase
during the next 24 hours.
When I arrived from abroad on the 22nd July
the house was completely flooded, water flowing from across the
fields at the back of the house up to 18 inches deep along the
drive at the front of the house.
Was the flooding inevitable? We understand that
heavy storms had been forecast on Tuesday or was it due to a surge
back of the level of the Thames because the flood gates lower
down the Thames between Lechlade and Reading had not been opened?
The residents and the insurers need to know
the answer to this question. Most of the houses in Hannington
Wick had been there a long time. Had they been sacrificed to some
more recently built housing estates further down the Thames? 350
year old properties such as mine are almost impossible to protect
in view of their size and age and due to the high level of the
water table.
I and my neighbours would like to be advised
what precautions or other actions can be taken to avoid or mitigate
such a reoccurrence.
For example what is the procedure for opening
the lock gates between Hannington Wick and Reading? Who has the
responsibility for regulating the water level in the upper Thames?
What actually happened on the 20th and 21st July? Could this have
been avoided by lowering the water levels in advance of the storms
between the locks?
It is difficult to make sense of the information
provided to us. We have been advised that the Environment Agency
was originally responsible for regulating the level of both the
main river of the Upper Thames and the principle feeders streams.
We understand that they are no longer responsible for maintaining
the banks and ditches leading to the Thames, weed clearing and
the removal of debris and other fallen trees. We understand that
they are still monitoring the level of the river electronically
at the various locks. In 1989 we understand that the Environment
Agency had a team of some 250 workers keeping the ditches and
streams clear of obstructions. We understand that the workforce
has now been reduced to 69 and the responsibility for clearing
the ditches is no longer theirs.
We also understand that the responsibility the
clearing the ditches adjacent to the roads is no longer up to
the local council.
We would like to know who now has the liability
for keeping these ditches cleaned and free of obstructions.
The flood was anticipated on Tuesday. No-one
was informed in Hannington Wick until 7.40 on Friday evening.
Should not the water levels between Hannington Wick and Reading
have been lowered in anticipation of the storms of Friday?
We are told the levels of water along the Upper
Thames are electronically monitored by the Environment Agency.
We are also told that the system is extremely unreliable and subject
to a number of glitches and incorrect readings. Who is responsible
for the lock keepers down the Thames? Who decides what action
to take when there is a threat of heavy storms? What happened
on July 21st? Why were we only warned on 7.40 on Friday evening?
Why were there no sand bags or other flood barriers delivered
earlier? Some I understand were delivered between 8 o'clock and
midnight on Friday evening, and then far too few.
What can now be done to prevent a future catastrophe?
I and my neighbours and our insurers have substantial losses.
My car is a write-off and my insurance premium is increased by
25%. I have to pay the first £10,000 of the cost of the damage
to my 350 year old listed property and sustain massive disruption
for several months.
I and my neighbours suspect we are the households
that have been sacrificed to protect a probably larger number
of households further down the Thames.
We need to have answers as to what happened
on the 21st and 22nd of July which resulted in these losses and
what action the government/Environment Agency can take to insure
that we are not the easy victims of similar occurrences in the
future.
We need to know who exactly was in charge—was
it the Environment Agency? What was the responsibility of the
council? Who else was involved? Or was it just an act of god?
It seems to us there is not clearly defined
area of responsibility. The Environment Agency has been deprived
of the resources to carry out proper flood protection and the
local councils had been made to abrogate any responsibility. We
the residents and tax payers have been left to foot the bill.
Is it not time for the government to sort out this problem and
deal effectively in allocating responsibility and accountability
to the Environment Agency in a clearly defined manner?
Is there anything you can do to determine what
actually happened and what action could be taken to mitigate such
problems in the future? I and my neighbours will be most grateful
for anything you might be able to do to help.
Peter J D McNally
September 2007
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