Flood repair work list drawn up by council

Areas hit hard by flooding last year should be prioritised for prevention work, a council has been told.

West Berkshire Council said it had worked with consultants and other agencies to determine 10 potential improvements following flooding last summer, which was the third wettest in the county since 1918.

A resident whose home near Reading flooded in January 2024 said she wanted authorities to act more quickly.

The councillor in charge of the authority's flood prevention work said more money needed to be invested by the government to help mitigate problems.

Felicity Becker was forced to put furniture on the ground floor on breeze blocks when her home was inundated in January 2024.

She said flood water reached about 1ft (30cm) high in her house, kitchen units were ruined and there was also damage caused to her garden.

But she said the flooding also caused emotional turmoil.

"Once the flood has gone, when we get heavy rain - and there are massive puddles on the roads because the drains haven't been sorted - then the kids get anxious, as do we all, thinking 'is this our house next?'" she added.

She said it took more than a year to arrange a meeting involving the various agencies involved and the local community to discuss potential measures.

From early January to late March, West Berkshire was badly affected by flooding when it was hit by Storms Henk, Isha and Jocelyn.

West Berkshire Council said it had liaised with Thames Water, the Environment Agency (EA), dozens of landowners as well as other groups, including the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust, to get a clearer picture of where the main problems were.

Consultants WSP submitted recommendations to the council following the flooding, including looking into who is responsible for keeping ditches in Pingewood clear of debris.

There should also be upgrades to some of the roads on the Membury Industrial Estate, they said.

An entire section of surface water drainage in Paices Hill, between Aldermaston and Baughurst, must be replaced after a failure which caused flooding for residents and businesses.

Stuart Gourley, the council's executive portfolio holder for environment and highways, said authorities could only "mitigate as much as possible".

"There will always be that risk because this area is in the highest flood risk zone that there is for ground and for river flooding," he said.

Thames Water spokesperson said responding to flooding required "a multi-agency approach across a range of organisations" and it would continue to work with others collaboratively.

The EA was approached to comment.

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