The Proposal
The Proposal
We are proposing a new working boatyard, an all-purpose community centre and café, and 18 new homes set in a landscaped site featuring a piazza in front of the Grade I listed St Barnabas Church.
Please find our latest newsletter with feedback from our consultation in February 2022 below:
Boatyard
Community Centre
Housing
The site is derelict, the boatyard was closed in 1992 and the boaters were evicted in 2006. Previous schemes for the boatyard site were approved in 1994 and in 2016, but never got off the ground, so the principle of development is established and it can come to fruition if we can overcome the viability and deliverability issues that have blocked regeneration.
The 2016 scheme could not be delivered because it required the Jericho Wharf Trust (JWT) to raise the funds to build the boatyard and community centre in its entirety – the scheme would transfer land for their construction but made no contribution to their development.
Our proposal was conceived to remedy this situation and provide a sustainably sized community centre and two dock boatyard that would be delivered to shell and core for an operator to then fit out to their own specification.
During the design of the scheme, the JWT, on behalf of the community, asked for the boatyard and community centre to be expanded. This resulted in the design of the 3 dock boatyard and a two phase 18,817 sq ft community centre currently proposed to be delivered.
The scheme at a glance
Regeneration of a derelict brownfield site left unused for almost 30 years
A new working boat yard with two dry docks, a wet dock, workshop facilities and laundry
A new two phase 1,748 sq m (18,817 sq ft) community centre with space for a café, pre-school facilities, sports hall, and meeting rooms
A central piazza for the public to enjoy with improved access to St Barnabas Church and the canal frontage
£655,000 financial contribution towards a new bridge
18 high quality, energy efficient new homes
An environmentally sustainable development
54 cycle spaces and 16 car parking spaces including: 2 City car places, 1 Disabled space
A financial guarantee that any windfall profits will be shared with the community
Planning Policy
Planning policy for the site calls for a mixed-use development with:
- Residential
- A sustainably sized community centre of c.418 sq m (4,500 sq ft)
- Public open space/square
- Replacement appropriately sized boatyard
- A new bridge over the Oxford Canal for pedestrians and cyclists
These requirements are set out in Policy SP33 of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 and our proposals address each of them.
Key issues
The best of plans have room for improvement and understandably, local stakeholders have been keen to maximise the community benefits of the proposal. Where consultees have suggested changes, we have taken them on board whenever possible. Not everything could be accommodated, and compromises have been necessary.
Q&A event at St Barnabas Church
You are invited to meet the project team and view our amended proposals for the regeneration of the Jericho Wharf boatyard at a public exhibition at St Barnabas Church, St Barnabas Street, OX2 6BG from 12:30pm to 3pm and 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday 8th February. If you have any questions in the meantime please email info@jerichoregeneration.co.uk.