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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:

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.