Canalside saga - current situation

In the hands of the administrators

The canalside redevelopment saga took yet another twist in February 2009 when Castlemore Securities, owners of Spring Residential, the developer which had bought the site, sank into administration under the weight of debts, which included a loan from HSBC for the £4 million-Jericho site. Now the canalside site’s future rests with the administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

In whatever way the Jericho site is to be sold, its value has sunk, along with the rest of the property market. But, as both Bellway Homes and Spring discovered, acquiring the site is the easy part. As soon as they try to pile four-storey blocks of flats on the land they run into fierce and effective opposition, both locally and nationally.

For standard ‘volume housebuilders’ this site will be tough going. They will need to carry out a lot of remedial work on contaminated land while also complying with multiple conditions imposed following the two failed planning appeals. The inspector at the first appeal, in 2005, established the requirement of a land contribution for a new community centre, as well as the provision of replacement boatyard facilities, either on the site, or in an “equally accessible location”. The second appeal, in 2008, rejected Spring’s proposed alternative boatyard at Yarnton, while also emphasizing the need for a lively public square – and for sympathetically designed buildings that would respect St. Barnabas Church.

Some commercial developers have also shown an interest. One proposal involves George Ferguson, former President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, who also gave evidence at the appeal against the Spring proposal. On the strength of this, he was approached by Bath-based developer, Future Heritage. Ferguson, says: “This site needs a cultural entrepreneur who will ensure that the community is at the heart of the development, along with enough commercial benefit to enable all this to happen. There should be facilities to take boats out of the water, along with boating-related enterprises. The community centre should not be marginalized, but be at the centre of the development.”

Outline planning permission

In order to secure land for a new community centre on the canalside site, the Jericho Community Association applied for outline planning application for the centre. This was granted unanimously by councillors at the Central, South and West Area Committee meeting on June 8, 2010.

This enables us to comply with the legal agreement reached with Spring concerning the transfer of land. Spring has now gone into administratioin but this commitment will pass to any new owner. Detailed plans for the centre will be drawn up later following community consultations.

The shaded area in the drawing below shows the area that the new centre would occupy. You can download the complete drawing as a pdf file by clicking here.

You can view the full planning application on the city council website using the reference 09/01203/OUT, or go there directly by following this link.

Block plan for new centre

In 2009 the Environment Agency revised its flood map, which had the effect of placing much of Jericho, including the canalside site, into a potential flooding zone, which would reduce the development potential of the site.

Currently the JCA, the Jericho Living Heritage Trust, the Jericho Community Boatyard and St Barnabas Church are working together to see if there is an opportunity to buy the site for the community. This may involve establishing a new organization, the Jericho Wharf Trust, as a vehicle for purchasing and developing the site.