Twelve years on, the Thames flood relief scheme that was promised is still not built
Anyone who has lived in Runnymede and Weybridge for long enough remembers February 2014. The Thames burst its banks, roughly a thousand homes across Chertsey, Egham, Staines and Weybridge went under water, and around 600 people had to leave their properties behind sandbags, boats and flood barriers. It was the worst flooding the area had seen in decades, following 14 severe flood warnings on the river that winter alone.
It was also, everyone was told at the time, the moment things would finally change. The idea of a flood relief scheme for this stretch of the Thames had already existed for years, first proposed in 2003 to protect 20,000 properties. The 2014 floods were meant to be the push that got it built. The Conservatives, who have held Runnymede Borough Council, Surrey County Council, the Government and the Runnymede and Weybridge parliamentary seat throughout most of the period since, said they would sort it out.
Twelve years on, work has not started on the ground.
The scheme that emerged, the River Thames Scheme, covers two new flood relief channels through Runnymede and Spelthorne, plus improvements to weirs at Sunbury, Molesey and Teddington, aiming to protect around 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses. Its outline business case was approved by government in 2021, unlocking the first £60 million of £285 million in central funding. A statutory consultation ran through early 2024. And by early 2026, work thus far had cost in the region of £104 million, with no construction yet under way. Reporting this year describes the scheme as being stuck in a mid-project review since May 2025.
For residents who lived through 2014, and who have watched river levels rise every winter since, that is a difficult thing to be told. The risk has not gone away. The scheme meant to help has spent over a decade, and well over £100 million, still on paper.
Runnymede and Weybridge Liberal Democrats believe residents deserve better than a flood scheme that gets announced, re-announced and reviewed every few years while the risk stays exactly the same. Fixing this needs two things: consistent national funding that does not depend on which minister is in post this month, and local authorities that treat delivery as a priority rather than a line in a report.
Nationally, Liberal Democrats have set out a clear approach to the funding and water issues that sit behind schemes like this one: giving the Environment Agency and Natural England the resources to do their job properly; requiring sustainable drainage in new developments under powers that already exist in law but have never been switched on in full; and fixing the water company failures that leave rivers like the Thames dealing with sewage risk on top of flood risk. Full details are set out in the party's environment policy at libdems.org.uk/green.
Chelsea Whyte, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Runnymede and Weybridge, grew up on this stretch of the Thames and has spent years rowing on it. She remembers the 2014 floods, and says she is tired of hearing "fixing local flooding" used as a campaign line by a party that has run every level of government here since the water went down.
"People in this constituency have been asking for over a decade why this scheme still isn't finished," she said. "I want a Thames future generations can grow up on the way I did, without the fear of it happening again. That means backing the funding that actually delivers this, not just talking about it every time an election comes round."
It's time local people can be sure their homes are safe from flood risk. If you agree, sign our petition!