Lessons must be learned from Thatcham floods
MR John A Boyd (‘A rethink is urgently required over housing’, Newbury Weekly News, March 25) seems to have hit the nail on the head; would Thatcham’s local infrastructure and transport facilities support the development of 2,500 houses and their occupants needs? At present, and in its proposed form – no.
West Berkshire Council’s apparent attitude “let’s build loads of houses and tick the box” seems very short term... never mind the potential increased traffic load on local roads or the foul and surface water disposal systems. There may be room for air quality systems, area heating, imaginative fuel saving, eco-friendly travel and social improvement to be considered in the overall design of any scheme.
However, in this case lessons need to be learnt from the 2007 Thatcham floods. Much of the rainfall on the large area of farmland currently percolates into the soil and lower strata. Hardened surfaces on large housing estates produce a lot of surface water; all this water will need to find its way into the Kennet and canal system, and ultimately the River Thames.
A heavy storm in the upper Thames basin has the effect of overloading the Thames and all its tributaries, potentially backing up water, made worse at spring tides and/or when the Thames Barrier is closed. This water has nowhere else to go other than the existing river flood-plains.
Look at the contours on a map. With additional surface water from north of the A4, the industrial estates and housing south of the A4 would thus become vulnerable to flooding, as well as further downstream, if the Kennet rose as before Upgrading local sewerage treatment disposal, improving the actual highway system must also be priorities before any significant development is allowed on this vast stretch of agricultural land. With regard to traffic; if the frustrating time spent by motorists over the years waiting at Thatcham Station level crossing were to be costed out the potential sum could have easily paid for a bridge over the railway, canal and river. A bridge should have been financed as the opportunity arose when the military depot to the east of Station Road was re-developed. This was a large housing development which, in my view, contributed much surface water to cause the floods in 2007 as the surface water was just plugged into an inadequate existing system.
As Mr Boyd says “… a fundamental rethink is urgently required”. ARTHUR J BEDFORD
Golding Close
Thatcham