Page 26 - Oxfordshire SuDS DESIGN & EVALUATION

6.0 Local SuDS requirements for
Local SuDS requirements

Oxfordshire

Landscape Character northwest is followed progressively by
overlying bands of Oxford clays, mudstone,
Oxfordshire has an estimated population of
siltstone and sandstone culminating in the
661,000 in an area of 2,600km2 - one of the chalk to the south and southeast which form
lowest population densities in the south-east
the hills of the North Wessex Downs and the
region. At its centre is the historic university Chilterns.
city of Oxford (population 152,500). The

other urban areas (including Banbury,
Abingdon, Bicester, Witney and Didcot) have
populations of 47,000 or fewer, whilst one
third of the population lives in settlements of
fewer than 10,000 people.

The county is predominantly rural, with
almost 75% of the land devoted to
agricultural use and almost 25% with three
‘Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty’,
including the Chiltern Hills, the Cotswolds and
21 the North Wessex Downs.

Oxfordshire is almost entirely within the
Thames River Basin District (96.6%) of
theEnvironment Agency’s South East Region.
Small areas drain to the Anglian (2.6 %)and
Severn (0.8 %) River Basin Districts.

The topography is dominated by the major
river valley of the Thames, with its
manytributaries and predominantly
comprises of low rolling hills. White Horse Hill
is thehighest point, at 260m above Ordnance
Datum.

The underlying bedrock geology follows
bands running in a south west to north east
direction, which dip to the south east. The
oolitic limestone of the Cotswolds in the

Oxfordshire County Council SuDS D & E Guide © 2018 McCloy Consulting & Robert Bray Associates