We have to crack on

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.

Posted March 20 2026

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 talked of the range of   activities at the Community Centre which included an exotic Brazilian class somewhere between dance and marshal art – “all great fun”. 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.” He hoped the threat of a CPO would have desired effect. “What I want is some action.”

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.

Cabinet discussing the Jericho Wharf options

Jericho resident, John Mair

A resident of 10 years, John Mair described having organised a number of meetings concerning Jericho Wharf. He is in favour of a CPO but believes it would be better to start again from scratch rather than pursue the existing vision based on plans already established. He dismissed the Jericho Wharf Trust as a “middle-class cult”. He argued that we did not need a boatyard for only 10 to 15 boats, creating a noisy “factory” and a reversion to “inner-city industry”. In any case, Jericho already had a boatyard run by College Cruisers able to do some repairs. While he used the existing Community Centre he was “disgusted by the state of it”. But that there was no need for a full-sized Centre with indoor sports facilities. Without the need for boatyard he thought the site would offer space for a mixed housing development. As part of this he also suggested razing the houses of Whitworth Place. By taking some land from Worcester College, an integrated scheme with a continuous ‘boardwalk’ could run all the way from Hythe Bridge Street to Mount Place. He said that a local architect is currently working on such a scheme.

Peter Stalker, Treasurer Jericho Community Association

As a resident of Jericho more than 50 years Peter Stalker recalled that from its creation in the 1980s, the Centre has been run by local residents, and that the Jericho Community Association that runs the Centre emerged from this group. Throughout this time it has had to pay its way. The Centre’s facilities are enjoyed by hundreds of people every week, through 16 regular activities – from ‘Biscuits and Babies’ meetings at one end of the age spectrum to ‘Alive and Kicking’ at the other. There are Brownies, Morris dancers, and ballet dancers; low-cost counsellors and health practitioners; a life-drawing class, a wood-carving workshop, and a thriving pottery studio, all of which draw in people from across the city. However, the early 20^th century building is showing its age and was declared not fit for purpose by the Council some years ago. Meanwhile hundreds of new houses have appeared along the canal with no accompanying community facilities. Jericho needs a new Community Centre large enough to be financially viable, that can serve all ages and clienteles, providing activities to build a fit and healthy society and stimulate an economically vibrant and diverse neighbourhood.

David Edwards, Trustee Jericho Wharf Trust

David Edwards pointed out that the Jericho Wharf Trust includes all Jericho’s main community groups and works in partnership with St Barnabas Church. He noted that Jericho has few community assets, little open space and a crumbling Community Centre. And Oxford’s residential boating community has   been waiting for a boatyard for over 20 years. College Cruisers does not meet the full range of boaters’ needs, it cannot lift boats out of the water nor accommodate DIY work. In Aylesbury, for example, there is a modern DIY boatyard that is community run – and above which there are events and conference facilities, with housing right next door. He underlined that the Jericho Wharf Trust has worked constructively and pragmatically with the Council and successive landowners/developers. But it has become tired of empty promises and speculative schemes. The petition launched by the Trust for a CPO has gather 2,200 signatures. Discussions had been undertaken with major partners who have the resources to deliver a good development. Only today a note of support was received from the Canal and Rivers Trust. He believed that all the players were moving into place for a successful outcome, in which the CPO was an essential back-up.

Toby James, for Jericho Community Boatyard

“I live on the Oxford Canal which is an important part of our city’s industrial heritage. For   the few hundred boaters living in Oxford this is home. We are no different to other   communities in Oxford – whether teachers, engineers, or gardeners. I work for a trade   union. For many of us this is the only affordable way to live in Oxford. But we have no   nearby option for repairs. If my engine packed in I could punt my boat up to Jericho but   certainly not punt it 13 miles up to the nearest boatyard in Heyford. And a tankful of diesel leaking this close to the Thames would be a disaster. A boatyard in Jericho would be transformative and not just for essential repairs. The Wharf basin would also give the space to turn a boat instead the risks of going into high water in the Thames. I recommend you visit the boatyard in Heyford. Sit outside, have a bottle of local cider, have a cake, watch the ducks. We could have a similarly beautiful boatyard in our own city and in the shadow of St Barnabas Church. A boon for boaters, and a wonderful asset to the community and a destination for the rest of Oxford.”

Another meeting, at the Community Centre earlier that day for Alive and Kicking

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The Jericho Wharf Trust is responsible for all aspects of the campaign to develop the Jericho Wharf canalside site in Oxford on behalf of the community.

For a visual history of the Jericho Wharf project, please click HERE for our image gallery