A turning point for Jericho Wharf

A packed St Barnabas School Hall welcomes Worcester College’s vision for the Jericho Wharf site

Posted September 16 2026

Around 250 people from Jericho and its neighbouring areas crowded into St Barnabas School Hall on Monday 14^th September evening to hear the Provost of Worcester College, David Isaacs, talk enthusiastically about the prospects for canalside regeneration on the old boatyard site which the College has recently purchase

The College’s purchase of this contested site, derelict for 25 years, should, he said, be a potential turning point towards its transformation into a place of value to College, local residents, boaters and the wider Oxford community.

The meeting was hosted by the Jericho Wharf Trust (JWT), represented by David Edwards. In 2024 he had made tentative overtures to Worcester College to consider acquiring the site. Later that year, the JWT launched a campaign for the Oxford City Council to make a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the site. In March 2026, the City finally agreed and embarked on the CPO process. The aim was to force the owner, Cheer Team, to develop the site or sell it.

That step, according to David Isaacs, enabled Worcester to buy the site at an affordable price.

David Isaacs explains why they have bought the site

The Wharf is attractive to Worcester because it represents a unique opportunity to acquire land adjacent to the College. It also offers space to build graduate housing: such accommodation which is in short supply, and the College’s graduate student body is growing. This would benefit Jericho by bringing new members into the community, including young families, and releasing housing in Jericho that Worcester graduate students currently occupy.

The Provost also emphasised that Worcester had recently been opening up links into Jericho and the wider community, and saw the new development as an opportunity for partnership. However, he added that Worcester is not a rich College, and that the donation that enabled them to acquire the site is now exhausted. Therefore while respecting Jericho’s needs and supporting its own aims for the site, the College was not expecting to make financial commitments to community elements. Space on the site would have to be amicably apportioned: from the College’s point of view, their needs came first but the community would probably have around one-third.

The anticipated ingredients of the site – housing, Community Centre, boatyard, public square, and possibly a bridge. However no plan has yet been prepared, and no architects have been appointed. As explained to the audience by David Edwards, the site is extremely complex. In addition to the land now owned by Worcester, some elements are owned by the Church and others by the Council. So a combined development scheme presents significant problems.

David Edwards of the Jericho Wharf Trust explains what the Trust is and what it plans to do

One of the critical elements is a boatyard. The ways in which this repair and maintenance operation could blend with a residential area was demonstrated with a video report of a comparable site in Aylesbury.

Both speakers emphasised the need for compromises: the goal was for College and community to work together in a framework of empathy and mutual respect, but to acknowledge the need for realism in constrained space and circumstances.

There followed a lively Q and A session: local emotions have traditionally run high over the boatyard site. Several questions referred to the type of housing envisaged, and whether social housing would be in the mix. The boatyard – referred to by Isaacs as a wharf and boat repair facility – was also a topic of importance. Considerable emphasis was made by David Edwards and others on the heritage value of such a facility, as well as on boaters’ needs. One commentator pointed out the importance residential canal boats as social housing. The Community Centre and its facilities were also a subject of concern, as were overall costs. Fund-raising would be needed on a significant scale.

The audience was encouraged to bring their concerns and ideas to the Consultation process which would form the next developmental stage. This is scheduled for early 2027, with City Council support. At present, sadly, the Provost could not envisage opening up the site for community use in advance of construction, which was unlikely to start in less than three years. The best we were likely to see in the short term is new hoardings. Despite odd notes of caution or despondence, the atmosphere of the meeting was extremely positive. For the first time in 15 years, there are real prospects of developing this iconic site.