Below the site plan we explain our views on some of the outstanding issues.

Any development has to balance the community benefits it delivers and the cost. We have provided the council with our financial information which has been rigorously tested by their independent experts. They have confirmed that “there is insufficient viability within the scheme”. In fact, the scheme as it is currently proposed provides a greater level of community benefit than is required by planning policy.

As our guarantee that the community benefits will be maximised and any profit earned is reasonable, there will be a requirement built in to any planning consent that any profit above the agreed baseline will be shared 60:40 in favour of the community. This will be overseen by the council.

Our original plans included a footbridge over the canal. We, residents and local stakeholders have been keen to deliver one. Unfortunately, the bridge proposed was ruled out by the Environment Agency and Canal & River Trust on grounds that ‘the bridge and its abutments would impede flood flow and therefore increase the risk of flooding at the site and elsewhere’ and would be ‘detrimental to both navigational safety and the safety of towpath users’. No acceptable alternative has yet been identified. We have therefore committed to pay the council £655,000 to ensure the delivery of a replacement bridge at Mount Place should a solution into the piazza not be found.

The council’s policy requires 50% of new homes to be affordable (defined as for rent or sale at a discount to the market price). We are proposing 18 new homes and our original plan was for 24 including 6 affordable homes. The affordable homes would have come from converting 33A Canal Street but as a consequence of cost inflation and the additional cost of changes to the boatyard and community centre, it became unviable to do this and the independent viability assessor, appointed by Oxford City Council, recommended the removal of the affordable housing from the scheme.

The community centre proposed is substantially larger than the SP33 policy requirement both in scale and form – it will be built in two phases to a total of 1,748 sq m (18,817 sq ft). Policy SP33 calls for a “sustainably sized community centre” which has been independently assessed to be c.418 sq m (4,500 sq ft).

Some consultees have suggested reducing the size of the centre to fund a larger piazza or affordable housing. The current proposal seeks to reflect the JWT’s request for a larger centre to support a range of community uses.

The proposal includes a public space or piazza with improved access to St Barnabas Church and this will be a focal point for the community and visitors to the site. The piazza is smaller than the previously consented scheme, largely due to the increased size of the community centre and boatyard. Nevertheless, the piazza will be a vibrant space framed by a café within the community centre to the north, the beautiful Grade I listed St Barnabas church to the east, attractive new homes to the south and the canal to the west.

Many consultees have wanted a larger piazza and suggested pushing back the building line to open up views of St Barnabas from the towpath, east down Cardigan Street, and to link the campanile with Radcliffe Observatory. This would require a reduction in the size of the community centre or fewer homes and therefore, less income from the development to fund the other community benefits.

The proposal will create a new boatyard with dry dock, workshop facilities and laundry which will help service the boats and bring activity to the canal side. Some consultees have expressed concern about the flood risk, the lack of silt traps which might make the dry dock vulnerable, and its potential impact on the viability of the boatyard. Others have criticised the expense of having electric gates.

The boatyard is an essential part of our proposal and it has been designed to meet all the necessary requirements and been approved, in principle, by the planning authority and statutory consultees.

The Jericho Wharf boatyard has been left disused since it closed in 1992. Our proposal would bring the yard back into active use, create a public piazza, and a new community centre. It would help regenerate the area and provide usable indoor and outdoor space for the community to enjoy. The sale of the 18 homes proposed can only raise so much and this is an excellent portfolio of community assets. All costs have been rigorously assessed, and they will be reviewed to ensure that the benefits the community will enjoy are maximised.

The total cost of community benefits including the boatyard, community centre, public realm improvements, access ramp for St Barnabas and provision for a new bridge are greater than the surplus generated by the scheme.

In addition to putting this derelict site back into use, the proposal would deliver more than £7,200,000 worth of community benefits:

• Bridge payment: £655,000
• Boatyard shell and core: £2,400,000
• Community facilities shell and core: £1,900,000
• Public realm improvements including piazza and access ramp to St Barnabas: £1,850,000
• Community Infrastructure Levy: £405,000

Next steps

Our application for the regeneration of the Jericho Wharf Boatyard is due to be considered by the City Council’s Planning Committee later this year. Before it does, we are undertaking another round of consultation with local stakeholders and residents. We would be grateful to hear your views on the proposal and the compromises we have had to make.

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