Abingdon flooding: Damage caused by new developments, residents claim

Blockages have caused rubbish to flow out into the road

Residents who removed debris from a water course to stop serious flooding have said new developments nearby are contributing to the problem.

Blockages in a culvert at Chilton Close in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, have caused sewage, water, and rubbish to flow out into the road.

It caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage during two recent floods, residents told the BBC.

Bellway and David Wilson Homes say they have complied with regulations.

Homes were flooded in March 2023 and in January this year.

The David Wilson Homes site at Abbey Fields began construction in March last year during the first flood. Bellway later began building at Radley Reach.

Homes were flooded in January

Kaushik Subramanian, a resident of Chilton Close, said: "It is absolutely stressful at the moment - you see the weather report and there's three days of rain and everybody is absolutely paranoid."

Residents said better maintenance of the culvert is needed, and that the new estates are on a crucial flood plain.

Wendy Wirduam said: "The water that was on the site at the moment, especially when we flooded, there's a hell of a lot of water there and it's got to go somewhere.

"If they're building it's not gonna soak into concrete, so I blame the new developments."

In the meantime residents have been taking it into their own hands to keep the culvert clear.

Resident Kaushik said the situation was "absolutely stressful"

A spokesperson for David Wilson Homes Southern said as part of the construction process it "followed the approved development drainage plan and implemented specific measures to control the flow of water on site and minimise the impact of heavy rainfall".

Bellway said it took its responsibilities for flood protections seriously and did not believe it was "placing additional flood risks on the local community".

It added: "We also need to comply with relevant requirements from the Environment Agency, which we have been doing, and as a result we have no plans to implement any additional measures currently."

Wendy said she blamed new housing developments for the problems

But local MP Layla Moran said there seemed to be a correlation between the flooding incidents and the housing construction.

She said she wanted to "understand whether the restrictions on developers is sufficient in light of climate change and in the light of all this new building that we are seeing across our county".

The Vale of White Horse District Council said it was aware of the flooding and said drainage was the responsibility of the developers.

It added: "The capacity of the developer's temporary drainage measures was exceeded by the recent exceptional rainfall, contributing to localised flooding on nearby roads."

It said it was "working closely" with David Wilson Homes "to ensure this is not repeated".

New developments in the area are being blamed for the floods

David Wilson Homes had "introduced various processes to mitigate the risk of flooding" until then, the council said, "including daily monitoring of water levels and trigger points to manually tanker water away".

It said it had also been working closely with Bellway to "ensure they also deliver a robust management plan for drainage during construction".

The UK Atomic Energy Authority, which owns the land with the culvert, said it was implementing a "weekly clearance of the trash screen and removal of waste" at the site.

It said it would be "addressing the queries raised by local councillors... very soon in writing".

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