Work ongoing to address still-blocked Wraysbury Drain described as a ‘liability’

Work is ongoing to address the problem of the still-blocked Wraysbury Drain at Hythe End – which one ward councillor has described as ‘negligence’ and a ‘liability’.

Councillor Ewan Larcombe of the National Flood Prevention Party (Datchet, Horton and Wraysbury) sought an update from the council in advance of a meeting on Tuesday.

The Wraysbury Drain has been blocked for many years, in particular at Hythe End, where homes and an industrial yard have been built across its path.

In writing, the council replied to Cllr Larcombe:

“Sadly, in 16 years the former Conservative administration made extremely limited progress in restoring the channel as a whole and no progress at all in reinstating the channel in the vicinity of Hythe End.

“The council did undertake clearance of part of the channel at the Dive Centre in March 2022 and engagement and enforcement work is currently underway along another section where riparian owners have recently taken action to further clear the channel.

“How planning consent has been acquired for property to be built across the course of a drainage channel is a question we are exploring with officers, with a view to seeing if there are any lessons to be learnt.

“We will also look at options for reinstatement of this section of channel, such as diversion or culverting.”

Further updates on work to reinstate and maintain the Wraysbury Drain are given by the council at the bi-monthly Flood Liaison Group.

Speaking at the meeting on Tuesday night, Cllr Larcombe said he was ‘horrified by the answer, but not surprised.’

“Somebody has built on top of a water course that’s about 8 feet wide (2.4m) and a couple of meters deep,” he said.

“Clearly we’re going to have to do something because the words ‘liability’ and ‘negligence’ come to mind.