Waterways Day 2022

Waterways Day was organised to give local residents the opportunity to learn about the current status of our watercourses and to engage with the organisations that are responsible for their management. West Oxfordshire District residents had a chance to meet experts from local charities and community groups who are concerned about issues of river pollution and flood management and to voice their concerns and ask questions.

The event consisted of a series of talks along with a drop-in area with stands held by the participating organisations to allow residents to discuss the matters of their concern.

Thank you to the organisations and residents who attended Waterways Day on Friday 18 November 2022. It was great to see such interest in the environment and our local waterways from those who attended.

Cllr Lidia Arcizewska, Executive Member for Environment, shares her thoughts on the event in this video.

Where and when

Waterways Day was held at the West Oxfordshire District Council offices at Woodgreen, Witney on Friday 18 November 2022.

Who attended

The event was attended by the Council as well as the following organisations:

Blenheim Estates
Berks, Bucks & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
Campaign to Protect Rural England (Oxfordshire)
Evenlode Catchment Partnership/Wild Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Council
Riverside Gardens
Thames Water
WASP, Windrush Against Sewage Pollution
Windrush Catchment Partnership
Witney Flood Mitigation Group
Wychwood Project

Talks and discussion sessions

Throughout the day, there were talks from these organisations to discuss their role in the prevention of pollution and flooding, the protection of wildlife and management of sewage around local waterways. These were followed by Q and A sessions to give the public an opportunity to ask further questions.

The talks took place as follows:

Time	Speaker	Organisation
10.00 – 10.05	Introduction - Cllr Lidia Arciszewska	West Oxfordshire District Council
10:05 – 10:45	Richard Aylard	Thames Water
10:45 – 11:25	Ashley Smith and Prof Peter Hammond	Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP)
11:25 – 12:05	Eoghan Concannon	Evenlode Catchment Partnership/Wild Oxfordshire
12:05 – 12:45	Prof Richard Harding	Campaign to Protect Rural England, Oxfordshire
Break
13:30 – 14:05	Nick Mottram	Oxfordshire County Council
14:05 – 14:40	William Wareing Kay Jerred and Margaret King	Witney Flood Mitigation Group Presenting the story of Riverside Gardens
14:40 – 15:15	Lisa Lane	Berks, Bucks & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
15:15 – 15:50	David Green	Blenheim Estates