SAVE JERICHO WHARF campaign

A campaign to SAVE JERICHO WHARF is hoping to end 20 years of dereliction along the canal in Jericho, caused by housing developer greed and incompetence. The Jericho Wharf Trust has asked the City Council to step in and secure the site by Compulsory Purchase Order. The Trust believes this is a viable proposition, but so far it has not gained sufficient traction.

Please support the campaign by joining us at a film screening for two striking documentaries and a campaign update event.

Date: Wednesday 26th February
From: 6.00 to 7.30pm
Where: Phoenix Picturehouse

Tickets £10 from https://buytickets.at/jca/1554809
There will be two films screened:

• Open Door Jericho, from 1974 (BBC2)
• Our Jericho, 2019 ( Film Oxford, Producer: Maggie Black, Director: Nicola Josse )

The screening will be followed by a Q&A session.

If you cannot come, please consider donating to the campaign at
https://www.jerichocentre.org.uk/association/donation

Local planning updates

The period since the AGM in November has been relatively quiet for new planning applications within WMRA’s area.

There has been no visible progress on the controversial permission for the former Party Shop at 179 Kingston Road where several important aspects need to be approved by the Council before work can start, including methodologies for archaeology, ground conditions and construction traffic.

A couple of significant permissions have been issued for developments nearby: a large scheme between Winchester Road and Banbury Road, to create a new Centre for Southeast Asian Studies and student accommodation for Hertford, Kellogg and Reuben Colleges; and a major overhaul of Wycliffe Hall on the opposite side of Banbury Road.

The University is consulting on a scheme to demolish the concrete building, 25 Wellington Square, on the south side of Little Clarendon Street (where Central Living were) and replace it with more teaching and graduate accommodation. We will publicise the planning application when it is made. But in the meantime, if you would like to know more, Oxford University Development (OUD) invites all local residents to join in the next stage of public engagement to discuss the redevelopment. You will learn more about the emerging architectural design, internal layouts and their approach to low carbon building.

Date: Monday 24th February
From: 11am to 7pm
Where: St Luke's Chapel, Observatory Quester, 35 Woodstock Rd

For more information, visit www.OUD.co.uk

Petition for new bus route

The new traffic measures proposed for Oxford assume good access to bus routes. To the west of Woodstock Road there is a bus desert. We have had no bus service since the 17 disappeared.

Oxfordshire County Council is discussing the Bus Service Improvement Plan on 25th February.

Local residents have started a petition to ask that they discuss adding a bus service linking Cutteslowe, North Oxford, Summertown, West Oxford and Botley via Kingston Road and Walton Street and dipping into the areas off these roads. The route would go round Jericho then to the city centre shops and railway station. The route would also connect everyone in this half of the city to bus routes to the Headington hospitals, changing buses in Summertown.

If you would like to sign the petition, please find the link here.

Traffic Filters update

Due to the further delay in the re-opening of the Botley Road, the traffic filters trial has been postponed until at least August 2026. Updates and reminders on how they will work as well as information on how to get permits will be shared in the run up.

Best wishes
The WMRA Committee