Waterways Day 2023
Thank you to all who attended Waterways Day 2023. The event was organised to give local residents the opportunity to speak with the agencies involved in waterways management and to allow residents to voice their concerns and ask questions.
The event consisted of talks from key organisations involved with managing waterways, held in four sessions, along with a drop-in area with stands where people could ask those organisations questions.
Where and when
Waterways Day 2023 was held at the Corn Exchange, Witney Market Square, OX28 6AB, on Thursday 23 November 2023.
Talks and discussion sessions
Throughout the day, there were talks covering four key themes: water pollution; clean water supply; flood mitigation and natural flood management; and nature recovery schemes. The talks were followed by a Q&A session, to give residents an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the issues that matter to them.
Presentations
Presentations from the day can be downloaded below:
Blenheim Estates Presentation - pdf - 14.83 Mb
The programme for the day was as follows:
Subject |
Speaker / Organisation |
Time |
|
Introduction |
Cllr Lidia Arciszewska, West Oxfordshire District Council |
10:00 to 10:10 |
|
Issues With Sewage Pollution |
Chair: Cllr Maynard |
10:10 to 12:10 |
|
|
Richard Aylard, Thames Water |
|
|
|
Ashley Smith & Vaughan Lewis, Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) |
|
|
|
Soraya Wooller, Earthwatch Europe |
|
|
|
Dominic Slade, Environment Agency |
|
|
Break |
|
12:10 to 12:30 |
|
Water Supply, River and Ground Water Abstraction |
Chair: Cllr Maynard |
12:30 to 13:30 |
|
|
Peter Blair, Thames Water |
|
|
|
Joe Cuthbertson, Environment Agency |
|
|
Lunch |
|
13:30 to 14:30 |
|
Afternoon Introduction |
Cllr Lidia Arciszewska |
14:30 to 14:40 |
|
Flood Management |
Chair: Cllr Lidia Arciszewska |
14:40 to 15:40 |
|
|
William Wareing, Witney Flood Mitigation Group |
|
|
|
Cathy Smith, Shill Brook Catchment Partnership |
|
|
|
Joe Cuthbertson, Environment Agency |
|
|
Afternoon Break |
|
15:40 to 16:00 |
|
Natural Flood Management Schemes and Nature Recovery |
Chair: Cllr Lidia Arciszewska |
16:00 to 17:30 |
|
|
Ann Berkeley, Evenlode Catchment Partnership/ Wild Oxfordshire |
|
|
|
Tim Field, North East Cotswolds Farmers Cluster (NECFC) |
|
|
|
Catriona Bass, Nature Recovery Network |
|
|
|
Kelly Whitton, Blenheim Estates |
|
|
Summary and Goodbye |
Cllr Lidia Arciszewska |
17:30 to 17:40 |
|
Event End |
|
18:00 |
Stalls
There was a room in the Corn Exchange where attending organisations hosted stands so that residents could ask any questions.