Sir – As representatives of the Witney Anti Flood Group (WAFG) we would like to respond to the article 'Put homes plan on back burner' where district councillor David Snow quotes the North Witney Action Group as saying ' it claims the West End Link Road scheme - which would provide a new river crossing and be a condition of planning permission - would add to the town's flooding problems'.

 The Environment Agency’s 'Initial Assessment: Witney Flood Alleviation' report states that a barrier across the flood plain in the region of the possible West End Link Road would in fact provide a flood defence for Witney. Whilst they say it is technically feasible it didn't match their required cost/benefit ratio to justify them funding it.

We have had ongoing discussions with the various agencies and we agree with their assessment that:

 1. Should development go ahead at Witney North then measures would be taken to ensure that there is no more water run off going down the Hailey Road than there is now.

2. The West End Link road could be designed to act as a flood defence barrier, to control the flow of water reaching the Bridge Street bridge, which acts as a bottle neck at times of flood water coming from upstream areas of the River Windrush.

Whilst we as a group are not advocating that Witney North should go ahead we wanted to put the record straight in terms of the flood defence statement so Witney residents are accurately informed and fully aware of this option to protect the centre of Witney.

 Tony Stark, Alistair Dinmore, Agnes Kocsis On behalf of Witney Anti Flood Group