Future Flood Resilience Group

The Future Flood Resilience Group (FFRG) was formed on 6th February 2024 following concerns about worsening flooding from local Councillors.  It was agreed that to better understand the underlying flood causes would require research, analysis, and fieldwork which FFRG has embarked upon publishing reports on our findings which you can see in our documents section.  FFRG is a research group acting strategically to support our communities dealing with flooding.

To understand the problem the FFRG is developing a model to look at all aspects of the issue based on the Letcombe, Childrey and Woodhill Brooks, tributaries of the river Ock, which itself feeds the river Thames.  The communities along our brooks experience every aspect of flooding and are therefore ideal subjects for investigation and will enable lessons learned to be rolled out elsewhere.  Understanding the underlying causes will help to identify some solutions which will be future proofed.

We are working towards the creation of a Flood Risk Management Plan. Everyone who may be affected by or has a role to play in the management of flooding could influence or contribute to the development of our work.  The Forum is run entirely by volunteers from the 10 Parishes in the Ock Valley, with representatives from the agencies and other interested parties attending our meetings. We are also involved in raising general awareness of local flooding issues and in improving individual resilience. We share knowledge between parishes, agencies and interested parties to the benefit of all. The committee is made up of members from each organisation.

Our Forum helps both individual homeowners, Parish, District, and County Councils, and other interested bodies to achieve improvements in flood resilience. We keep the agencies focused on the tasks required and will hold them to account when things go wrong. Flooding will happen more often and more substantially in the future, and it is vital that voluntary groups like ours, where local knowledge can make all the difference, are encouraged to thrive, and succeed.