NEWS ITEM

Canal Development Update

Oxford City Council has voted for decisive action on the Jericho Wharf site. The Council will now seek out a development partner with whom they can work to ensure progress on the site. And failing that, they will make a compulsory purchase.

At the meeting on March 18, the Cabinet of Oxford City Council unanimously adopted a recommendation from the planning officers for the City to intervene in the long-running saga of Jericho Wharf. Councillor Ed Turner, Deputy Leader of the Council and responsible for Finance and Asset Management, expressed his frustration that after so many years nothing had been achieved. “After recent interactions with the owner of this site, my patience is at an end. We simply have to crack on”.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, who has lived in Jericho for more than 30 years, spoke of the unique character of Jericho which often feels like a village. He argued that a lively Community Centre contributes customers to other local businesses. He also spoke of the need for a boatyard for the hundreds of people whose residential boats on Oxford’s waterways represent a low-income housing solution, and “whose homes cannot be maintained.”

Both Councillors gave credit to the people and groups such as the Jericho Wharf Trust who have voluntarily given huge amounts of time, in some cases for 20 years, on this issue.

The Council Cabinet then voted unanimously in support of the officers’ recommendation. This means that they have delegated to officers the task of seeking a development partner with a viable business plan, to try to acquire the Jericho Wharf site by agreement. Failing that, as a last resort, they will embark on a compulsory purchase.

For a fuller report of this meeting, please click here