Next step in protecting Thatcham from flooding approved

Plans for third basin get the go ahead

THE next defensive measure to protect Thatcham from flooding has been given the go-ahead.

West Berkshire Council approved its own application to construct a floodwater detention basin on farmland off Dunston Park and opposite Foxglove Way.

The council said that the scheme will protect the town against a one-in-a-hundred-year flooding event, plus climate change. The basin is one of four planned for the town to prevent a repeat of the devastating floods that hit Thatcham in July 2007.

Discussing the plans, the council’s chief engineer, Stuart Clark, said that the scheme would benefit 512 houses in Thatcham and would collect water from Dunston Green through to Soley Hill.

Mr Clark added that the positioning of the basin so close to homes was chosen in order to maximise the flow of water between two water courses.

Commending the application, Richard Crumly (Con, Thatcham Central) said that residents should feel reassured that the scheme would ensure the land was not used for residential development.

He added that it would help to ensure 1,100 houses previously affected by flooding would not suffer again.

Councillors voted unanimously to approve the scheme.

The basin is the third scheme to be approved by the council.

Work on one at the bottom of Cold Ash Hill was completed in 2014 and construction of another bund, off Tull Way, is under way.

The chairman of the Thatcham Flood Forum, Iain Dunn, said: “We, in Thatcham Flood Forum, are very pleased that planning permission progresses this scheme.

"However, while minor works will be started in the short term, it is expected that the major works will be progressed in conjunction with the South East Thatcham scheme.”