Oxfordshire Commits £9.4m to Highway Drainage Upgrades in Bid to Reduce Flooding

Additional £4 million investment will fund repairs to damaged gullies and drainage infrastructure following the largest countywide inspection programme ever undertaken.

Oxfordshire County Council has approved an additional £4 million investment to repair and replace damaged highway drainage infrastructure, strengthening the county's ability to combat flooding and improve road resilience ahead of future winters.

The funding will support a two-year programme of drainage repairs following the completion of an unprecedented countywide inspection of the highway network, which identified thousands of defective gullies requiring further attention.

The latest investment increases the council's total commitment to highway drainage improvements to £9.42 million.

Countywide Survey Identifies Repair Priorities

The decision follows the completion of a major inspection programme launched in April 2025, during which every highway gully and catchpit across Oxfordshire was assessed for condition and performance.

Working alongside delivery partners M Group and Drainline, the council inspected

approximately 147,000 highway gullies, with 135,254—around 92% of the network—cleaned at least once during the 12-month programme.

While the majority of assets were successfully maintained, some could not be accessed because of parked vehicles or seized covers, while others were found to have more significant structural defects requiring detailed investigation and permanent repair.

Those assets have now been prioritised within the new improvement programme.

Investment Focuses on Long-Term Resilience

The additional funding will enable the council to significantly increase drainage repairs and investigations over the next two years while ensuring routine maintenance delivers maximum benefit.

The programme has been designed not only to repair damaged infrastructure but also to strengthen Oxfordshire's resilience against increasingly frequent severe weather events.

Future maintenance schedules will adopt a more targeted, risk-based approach, with gullies in higher-risk flood locations cleaned annually, while lower-risk areas will move to a two-year maintenance cycle.

Priorities will be informed by data gathered during last year's inspection programme, alongside flood mapping and historical flood investigation reports.

Lessons Learned from Last Winter

Councillor Liz Leffman, Oxfordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Highways Construction and Repairs, said the investment reflects the need to address years of underinvestment while improving the county's ability to cope with wetter winters.

She said:

"Given the wet winter we had last year, and the extensive flooding that it caused, it's important to maintain and clear gullies and make sure that broken infrastructure is replaced.

"We have a lot of broken gullies, due to many years of under investment. We know that by repairing them we will significantly improve drainage, particularly over the winter period. That's why we have invested £4 million over the next two years on gully infrastructure."

She added that the programme would deliver wider benefits beyond flood prevention.

"This work will help to minimise network disruption, protect communities and property, and support safe, reliable travel. The programme will also prioritise preventative interventions, reduce reactive maintenance costs and strengthen our ability to respond to increasingly severe weather events."

Supporting a More Sustainable Highway Network

The countywide maintenance programme has also demonstrated significant environmental benefits.

During the 2025-26 programme, contractors removed approximately 2,346 tonnes of material from Oxfordshire's highway drainage system.

Rather than disposing of the waste in landfill, the material was processed through a specialist recycling facility operating on a zero-to-landfill basis.

Recovered water was treated and reused where possible, while sand and aggregate extracted during the cleaning process were recycled for future use. Remaining waste materials were sent for recycling or energy recovery, ensuring no material was knowingly sent to landfill.

Data-Driven Asset Management

The investment represents a shift towards a more proactive approach to highway drainage management, using detailed asset condition data to prioritise repairs before failures occur.

By combining preventative maintenance with targeted infrastructure renewal, Oxfordshire County Council aims to reduce emergency call-outs, improve network reliability and better protect communities from flooding as climate change continues to increase pressure on drainage systems.

With almost 150,000 drainage assets now mapped and assessed, the authority says it is better equipped than ever to make evidence-based investment decisions that improve both the resilience and sustainability of the county's highway network.