At the Scrutiny Committee meeting on 1 July 2025, the Committee requested a report setting out the Council responsibilities in relation to managing and maintaining watercourses, ditches, streams and brooks that run alongside or through land owned by the City Council.

Cllr Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, Malcolm Peek, Property Services Manager and Michael Woods, Major Works Project Manager are invited to present the report and take part in discussions.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations.

At the Scrutiny Committee meeting on 1 July 2025, the Committee requested a report setting out the Council responsibilities in relation to managing and maintaining watercourses, ditches, streams and brooks that run alongside or through land owned by the City Council. 

Councillor Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for Zero Carbon Oxford, Malcolm Peek, Property Services Manager and Michael Woods, Major Works Project Manager were present to respond to questions.  

Councillor Railton introduced the report and welcomed the ongoing work of officers.  

 
The Major Works Project Manager outlined the contents of the report, noting that it included content from across Council services.  

The Chair invited questions from the Committee.  

Councillor Ottino requested maps outlining the rivers and streams that the Council is responsible for and noted concern relating to the lack of progress with flood action plans for specific areas of the city.  

 
The Major Works Project Manager committed to sharing a map in the future and, in relation to the flood action plans, explained that due to feasibility issues, alternative options are now being assessed by the environmental sustainability team on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council. The Committee understood that actions arising from this should be apparent in due course. Councillor Railton seconded these comments.  

Councillor Ottino queried when the relevant reports would be received and emphasised the need for more urgency to ensure residents’ homes are not flooded.  

Councillor Jarvis queried what is involved with ditches surveys and what the resulting actions are, specifically whether there is a threshold for taking action on anything discovered. Councillor Jarvis also asked, in relation to brooks with blockages, what is the best route residents can you use to flag such issues and whether there is a clear plan for addressing these flood risks.  

The Property Services Manager outline the ongoing work to assess and plan future preventive maintenance, of which Oxford Direct Services already deliver most. Difficulties relating to waterway ownership were also explained; the Council does not have control over many areas which are privately owned. The Committee understood that ongoing close working with the County Council continues where funding is available. In relation to signposting the public, the Property Services Manager noting ongoing work to display information ore clearly online in relation to waterways ownership.  

Councillor Rowley, following from comments from Thames Water regarding the inadequacy of drains, asked what the Council does to identify issues and works when formulating a preventative maintenance plan. Councillor Rowley also asked what would happen if a ditch in the Council’s ownership was no longer adequate for drainage.  

The Chair noted that currently, work has often been delivered on an ad hoc or repair basis and asked how many ad hoc repairs have been completed since the Environment Agency pulled back.  

The Property Services Manager responded that these are not captured as a standalone work type by ODS. However, this would be raised with ODS to see if they would be able to provide this information going forward.

In response to the Chair’s question, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 123