Community asks Council for compulsory purchase of Jericho Wharf
The painful saga of Jericho's canal-side development project
The frustration sits deep in Jericho. After decades of back-and-forth over the future of the neighbourhood’s wharf, the local community has had enough.
They demand the city step in and take over the dysfunctional project to redevelop the former boatyard.
“We’ve become impatient—that might be too gentle of a word—with the landowner and have asked the council to instigate a compulsory purchase for the site,” summarised Peter Stalker, the Treasurer of the Jericho Community Association.
Various local groups have been working together for years to turn the derelict site on the Oxford Canal into a mixed-use community space, including a new boatyard, a new community centre, and affordable housing. But so far, all redevelopment attempts have eventually stalled.
The Jericho Wharf Trust (JWT) has documented the project’s lengthy history. The saga starts some 33 years ago, when Orchard Cruisers ceased operations on the Castlemill Boatyard site.
The landowner at the time, British Waterways, launched the first of half a dozen failed redevelopment attempts. Subsequently, the land changed hands multiple times.
The illustrious tale includes overseas acquisitions by speculators and an unsuccessful community bid for the site. A would-be developer went bankrupt, and planning applications got rejected for failing to address community needs.
Meanwhile, the site was still used for boat repairs until boaters were evicted in 2006, amidst protests. After that, the wharf lay dormant and began its slow decline towards the canal-side eyesore that it is today.
As the list of unsatisfactory and failed development proposals grew, the local community’s hope shrank. “I think people are fed up with the fact that it’s gone on so long,” said Mark Davies, the Chair of the Jericho Living Heritage Trust.
Both Mr Davies and Mr Stalker stressed that the Jericho and boating communities asked for a multifaceted development ticking off all the boxes: boatyard, community centre, public square, canal bridge, affordable housing, and integration of the adjacent St Barnabas church.
The status quo requires boaters to drive up to Banbury to get to a boatyard. The current community centre is too small and inaccessible for wheelchair users. And Mr Davies noted that Jericho was simply missing adequate public spaces.
Aside from fulfilling local needs, the project’s goal is also “making sure that the industrial heritage of Oxford isn’t lost,” said Mr Stalker, looking at the original industrial purpose of the canal and its boats.
But right now, the outlook is dire. According to the JWT, the current developer has ceased all communications. Instead, what’s happening is “nothing much.”
They assessed that the owner overpaid for the land and fears financial unviability when moving ahead as planned.
For the JWT, a compulsory purchase order is the only way forward and out of the cycle of buying, planning, and reselling—a cycle that comes with the continuous watering down of proposals at the cost of the community.
Rumours that the current landowner is seeking to sell and turn the site into student housing seem like oil on that fire.
“The City should now buy the site for current market value of £1 million, but secure re-payment with a ‘back-to-back’ sale to a pre-selected developer contracted to build urgently needed housing and deliver community needs,” the JWT stated.
A petition in support of the idea has so far received roughly 2,000 signatures. The Council has not made a decision yet.
“None of this happens quickly,” said Mr Stalker. Mr Davies cautioned that “the legal complications of doing something like that are huge.”
Today, the wharf remains hidden behind a fence that is falling into disrepair itself, with no swift end in sight.
“When I’m long gone, the struggle may have to continue,” said Mr Stalker. “Let’s hope it can be resolved in my lifetime.”