It was my pleasure to organise and accompany my work colleagues on a Team Day/site visit to Oxford. My work colleagues advise the rest of the organisation, and others, on the Environment Agency's policy in the area of flood prevention and flood management. As I joined the organisation four weeks before the visit, it was my job to organise the logistics of moving 25 people to and around Oxford. Some of this was sub-contracted to a positive and knowledgeable team on the ground, and I organised the travel and accommodation.
The
reason why Oxford was so interesting is that if they have a great flood such as
may happen every 15 years on average, it will great physical and economic damage
to the city, and the different organisations involved have to manage this threat
and still please as many as possible of all the vested interests present. Oxford
itself has undergone a Strategic Study into the problem, and its findings have
to be combined with the management of the River Thames as a whole.
My work colleagues found this study trip very rewarding, as ideas were exchanged between them, a Head Office department, and the local Environment Agency staff, who work constantly with local authorities and other environmental groups to preserve Oxford's heritage, whilst also working to prevent major destruction by flood.