Why do residents want to save a derelict wharf?

Plans for Jericho Wharf have been through several developers over the past 30 years but the project is yet to be delivered

Residents have launched a petition urging a council to buy and secure a derelict site for "desperately needed" new community facilities.

The Jericho Wharf Trust (JWT) is requesting that Oxford City Council secures a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the Jericho Wharf.

Plans for the land by the Oxford Canal, which include a working boatyard and affordable housing, have been through several developers over the past 30 years but are yet to be delivered.

The council said it would need "some time" to respond to the appeal.

New facilities are 'desperately needed'

JWT said "a significant number of boats" have sunk due to poor condition and the lack of a boatyard to mend them

Four local interest groups have come together to form the JWT to campaign to bring the site back into use.

Dr Phyllis Starkey, chair of the trust and former Oxford City councillor, said a CPO would either "galvanize the developer to get on with it" or "enable the council to... sell it immediately to a developer with whom they have agreed exactly how the site will be developed".

She called the facilities "absolutely desperately needed".

"For the boaters, there is nowhere in Oxford where boats can be taken out of the water and their hulls mended," she said.

"There have been reports of a significant number of boats becoming in such poor condition that they have literally sunk.

"That's somebody's home sinking and disappearing."

Bruce Heagerty, secretary of the Jericho Community Boatyard, said the closest place for repairs was up the river in Eynsham, which is a five-hour journey.

"When the rivers are high like they are now due to flooding, there's absolutely nowhere in an emergency that we can get our boats out of the water," he said.

"We have a community of 400 canal boats here in the Oxford area and no boatyard within Oxford that you can take them out and service them.

"It's diabolical, Oxford should be better than that."

David Edwards, JWT trustee and a former planning head at the city council, said the current community centre, which is situated in Canal Street, was not "fit for modern use".

"You can't get disabled access properly into it, the rooms are too small," he said.

"The council did an independent assessment that found there needed to be a new facility."

The story so far

The police eviction of squatters from the site in 2006 made national press headlines

In 1992, Orchard Cruisers ceased operations at the site, which was a working boatyard at the time but the land was owned by British Waterways (BW).

In 2000, the first developer emerged on the scene when BW chose Bellway Homes over local builder Leadbitter, proposed by the Jericho Community Association (JCA).

Its planning application did not include a community centre and was rejected by the city council.

The police eviction of squatters from the site in 2006 made national press headlines and evoked criticism from author Philip Pullman who was involved in a campaign to save the boatyard.

The second developer, Spring Residential, included land for a new community centre in its planning permission. It had purchased the site from BW for £4m.

However, its application was also rejected because it lacked provision for a new boatyard and failed to offer 50% affordable housing. The design of the new buildings was also considered poor.

In 2009, Spring Residential went into administration. Among its debts was the £4m loan from HSBC for the boatyard site.

Plans for a "Venetian-style piazza" were approved by SIAHAF in 2015

Oxford City Council prepared a strategic plan for the area in 2013, clarifying that any developer would be expected to provide a public square and bridge, and to set aside land for a community centre and a boatyard.

The Hong Kong-based Cheer Team Corporation then put forward proposals for the site working with property company Strategic Iconic Assets Heritage Acquisition Fund (SIAHAF), managed in the UK by entrepreneur Johnny Sandelson.

Its plans for a "Venetian-style piazza" were approved in 2015 but SIAHAF started discussing new plans with a new architect in 2017.

In 2019, SIAHAF partnered with local company Cornerstone Land and in the next few years, they revised the plans excluding both the bridge into the piazza and the affordable housing.

The new application was rejected by the city council in 2022 but the planning inspectorate granted it after Cornerstone Land appealed.

No work on the development has been done since then.

The revised version of the plans from 2019 excluded a bridge into the piazza and the affordable housing

• Water bosses vow to sell boatyard

• Author's plea over historic yard

• Oxford's Jericho Wharf boatyard 'piazza' plans approved

Cornerstone Land's proposals from 2022 differed to community demands.

The company listed the reasons behind the plans in a report, which included "financial viability" regarding the affordable homes and the fact a bridge could contribute to flooding risks at the site.

The JWT said it last communicated with Cornerstone Land in August.

It presented the developer with a financial package approved by the council in the hope it would drive the development forward but the trust has not heard from the company since.

The BBC approached Cornerstone Land for an update but did not receive a response.

The trust said it last communicated with Cornerstone Land in August

'Way forward'

Ed Turner, the city council's cabinet member for finance and asset management, said they would need "some time" to consider and respond to the appeal "properly".

"As part of this we will look to meet with representatives from the trust to discuss the matter.

"I would like to thank the JWT for their continued involvement and effort in trying to bring this site forward."

Mr Edwards, from the JWT, said he thought there could be "a real way forward" if the council was prepared to lead.

"It'll take probably 12 to 18 months to do the CPO but then a developer could come straight in and start building," he said.

"Let's bring 30 years of dereliction to an end."