JCA welcomes canalside development

At a meeting organized by the JCA at St Barnabas School on July 21, local residents debated the planning proposal from SIAHAF. For the JCA, Charlotte Christie said: “The Jericho Community Association welcomes the development of this site. This planning application will provide the community facilities that we need, and better connect Jericho to its canal and to the communities on the other side. “ “The basic requirement for the new community centre, accepted by the City Council, is that it must be ‘sustainably sized’. This planning application achieves this in that it offers the minimum floor area and the spaces needed to provide adequate community facilities. With these rooms the centre should be able to operate in a sustainable manner in the long term. “However, in order to free up more land for housing the developer has chosen to build the community centre over the boatyard. This configuration adds to the height and bulk of the building, while offering no commensurate advantages in terms of facilities. Indeed there are some disadvantages in the form of reduced disabled access. This configuration also significantly increases the cost of building the community centre and the boatyard thus reducing the financial viability of the whole project. “We welcome the provision for a public square. It is crucial that all elements of the development contribute to the vitality of this space. We support the principle of an organization such as the Jericho Wharf Trust managing the space for the benefit of the community. We are also pleased that this is to be a car-free development. ” “We also strongly support the proposal for the type and siting of the bridge. A level bridge takes up less space and is easier to access. It is also critical to the success of the public square and the community centre that the bridge leads directly into the public square, thus creating a steady stream of foot and bicycle traffic. “However, we regard the developer’s proposed 32% of affordable housing as inadequate and strongly support the City Council's policy for 50% affordable housing on this site. An industrial design Matt Watts from the architects Haworth-Tompkins presented the latest plans and explained the ‘industrial feel’ of the development. He answered questions, for example, on the potential impact on the light available to houses in St Barnabas Street. Some people were also concerned about the lack of detail on, and potential subsequent alterations to, the ‘finishes’ of the square and other parts of the site. He said that one of the main concerns of the developer was to produce a high quality development that respected Jericho’s heritage. He estimated that once construction started, that it would take 12 to 18 months and that they were hoping to minimize disruption by delivering building materials via the canal. Key issues for Jericho Wharf Trust Representatives of other local groups gave their views. For the Jericho Wharf Trust, Phyllis Starkey said that the proposal provided the space needed for a viable boatyard and community centre, but regretted that provision of affordable housing is so low – 32% of housing units, 15% of housing space. She added: “We do not believe that the scheme can be successfully delivered until two key issues have been addressed. First the affordability of the community facilities, which will cost at least £1.6 million more than the £5 million budgeted for our own original scheme. We expect the developer to compensate for our increased costs. The second key issue concerns the ownership and management of the public space. We need to know, for example, on what terms ownership will be transferred to the community. We hope to resolve these concerns by working with SIAHAF to achieve a Collaborative Agreement before the planning application is considered by the West Area Planning Committee.” For the St Barnabas Parochial Church Council, Henry Gibbon said they broadly welcomed the development but was concerned about the impact on the vicarage and about the arrangements for control of the public square, for which part of the land is owned by the Church. For the Jericho Community Boatyard, Steve Watts said he thought that the proposals should give just enough facilities, and to minimize noise concerns they anticipated limiting the working hours for certain activities. He also said that it would be essential for the boatyard to have access to moorings in front of the houses – though these would need to be provided by the Canal and River Trust. Anne Mobbs of the Jericho Alive and Kicking group argued that the affordable housing should take the form of sheltered housing for older people. Parking and cyclists One general concern was about parking. part from one space for disabled parking, this would be a car-free development. This it was felt would be a restriction on the use of the site, since potential customers of the Bookbinders, for example, were dissuaded by the lack of parking. On the square, there was discussion about the mix of cyclists and pedestrians. Matt Watts pointed out that sharing space in this way was common and that priority should be for pedestrians. There were also questions about the restaurant. Matt Watts said that this would be a high-quality restaurant. It would probably be leased out by the developer, but that SIAHAF did not see this as a significant source of profit, intending rather that it should add to the life of the square. The proposal is open for public comment until July 24. To register your comments please go to: [url=http://www.oxford.gov.uk/planningapplications]http://www.oxford.gov.uk/planningapplications[/url]. In the side menu, click on Search for Planning Applications. Scroll down and click on ‘I Accept’. In the Simple Search page, type 14/01441/FUL, and when two applications come up click on the second. When the details appear there is a ‘Make a Public Comment’ button at the top. You can also read everyone else’s comments at the end of the long list of documents.