The Case for Retention of CASTLEMILL BOATYARD, Jericho, Oxford.

(Planning Inspectorate Reference: APP/G3110/A/04/1152062)

Statement:

A boatyard facility on the Oxford Canal in Oxford is essential for the safety and maintenance of both the residential and leisure craft in or passing through Oxford and its locality. It is also a significant part of the diversity, heritage and viability of the local area. It should be retained because it:

1) Provides an essential service both to the local boating community and to visiting boats (as required in Oxford's Local Plan)

2) Generates local employment

3) Constitutes a bridge with tradition

4) Has the support of the Jericho community

5) Is totally consistent with British Waterways' heritage and consumer obligations, especially in view of the new Local Agenda 21 (LA21) residential moorings established by BW in 2001

1) Essential service to the local boating community and to visiting boats

1.1 The local boating community

In 2001, British Waterways (BW) resolved a long-standing source of dispute through the establishment of about 60 new residential moorings in Oxford under a city council-backed initiative known as Local Agenda 21 (Appendix 1: BW's Flyrun magazine). A crucial factor in this innovative, low-impact scheme was the presence of a convenient boatyard. The LA21 boats brought the total number of residential craft on both the Oxford Canal and the Thames in Oxford to about 100, in addition to a similar number of residential and non-residential vessels moored on the canal as far as Shipton, and the yard is ideally placed at the junction of these two historic waterways for both routine needs and significant repairs. These services range from basics such as coal, gas, or fuel, to major welding jobs and emergency repairs. Work has included the fitting of anodes, new windows or hatches, to complete re-bottoming of craft (a facility not offered elsewhere in the area), all carried out under the supervision of a marine surveyor (Appendix 2: statement from Marine Surveyor).

The crucial service offered, though, is the facility to crane boats out of the water, something which is required every three to five years in order to enable routine hull maintenance, hull surveys and work in respect of the mandatory Boat Safety certification. Once on hardstanding, DIY work is encouraged, and the vast majority of local boats (about one quarter of the whole fleet per year) have benefited from this essential service. If these works cannot be carried out, boats will deteriorate, and ultimately sink, and the likelihood of fatal accidents on board will increase dramatically. The need could not be more stark.

As an additional example of local involvement, the yard fabricated the fire boxes for the LA21 moorings and has hosted talks given by the Fire Service as part of a joint campaign to prevent the fires - some fatal - which have been all too common on boats on the Oxford Canal in recent years.

1.2 Visiting boats

The yard is ideally situated near the junction of the Oxford Canal with the River Thames at Isis Lock, making it the first or last opportunity for passing boats to obtain services, either routine or major, for some considerable distance. Large numbers of passing boats have benefited. Two boats have been rescued from certain sinking, lifted by crane on to the hardstanding within 12 hours.

Boats cruising towards Oxford have a choice: they can either use the Oxford Canal, which runs to the heart of the city, or they can go onto the Thames above Wolvercote, thereby bypassing the north of the city. The less time visiting boats spend in Oxford, the less they will add to the wealth and vibrancy of the city. Currently the yard provides a reason to stay longer in Oxford than would otherwise be the case.

1.3 Local Plan

Appendix U of the current Local Plan (the development guidelines for the Castlemill boatyard site) states there must be 'retention or relocation of any essential canal facilities'. The second draft deposit of the new local plan makes a similar statement in DS12: the new development for the site must include 'replacement riverside/canal uses'. Also in the new local plan, policy SR13 states 'The city council will protect existing water based recreation facilities and support services for boat users, unless the facility is to be replaced in another equally accessible and suitable location.';

It is important to understand that some of the services offered by Castlemill cannot be found anywhere else in the vicinity. The nearest comparable alternative is on the Thames, at Eynsham (an hour or two by boat), a facility which could not be expected to accommodate all of the boats that currently come to Castlemill. Furthermore, the Thames is usually unsafe for navigation for much of each winter, so Castlemill is the only facility for reliable year-round maintenance purposes. It is especially vital for Oxford's residential boaters, whose lives could be disrupted considerably by having to take their homes out of town for maintenance work.

Other facilities are even further away, and in any case of inadequate scope for one reason or another. These lie on the Thames south at Benson (4 1/2 hours by boat), and on the Oxford Canal at Heyford (6 hours), where full-length boats cannot be accommodated, at Aynho (over a day's journey), albeit another smaller facility of unproven scope is planned at Enslow (5 hours by boat). At Banbury, a historic boatyard continues to operate on a small site at the heart of a redevelopment -- where BW sold land but (as part of the deal) ensured the yard was kept, demonstrating that such readjustment can be done. Despite previous assurances, British Waterways has failed to offer any alternative site for a boatyard for Oxford.

2) Local employment

Alchemy Boats, trading on the Castlemill Yard, is run by Steve Goodlad BSc PhD, Boatbuilder. Currently there are three other workers, retained on a non-contractual, part-time, self-employed basis. They include a coded welder, a semi-skilled steel worker, and a general site-maintenance / security person. Other casual workers are taken on as required. With greater security of tenure, the work undertaken would expand considerably, and the numbers of people employed likewise.

Alchemy Boats came to the site formally in 1999, but had been working on boats on this part of the canal from 1996. Alchemy have built one new bespoke narrowboat a year at Castlemill, based on the 1950s riverclass working boat, and incorporating distinctive double glazed opening hatches and skylights. These vessels are particularly suited for residential use due to the maximised internal dimensions of the vessel. Alchemy is currently re-bottoming three boats, and could undertake at least eight such projects per year. In 2004 Alchemy worked on restoring nb Mafeking, a 100+ year-old craft which would almost certainly have been condemned without access to Castlemill Yard.

There is an old forge building on the site, which was utilised by a local blacksmith until the short-term nature of the leases obliged him to relocate. It is nonetheless indicative of the key role played by the Yard in fostering traditional skills.

3) Tradition: local heritage

Castlemill Boatyard* comprises the very first wharf to be established in Jericho, set up by Henry Ward, a member of a successful and philanthropic Oxford family of coalmerchants, boatowners, and boatbuilders in the early 19th century. Ward is described as a 'Jericho Boatbuilder' in Pigot's Directory for 1842 - but may well have operated for some years prior to this. The Ward family still owned most of the land here when St Barnabas'; Church was built (1869), and as well as providing the land for the church's construction, the Wards also provided the site for Jericho's first school in 1856. Later on, in 1927, it was this site which enabled the Oxford Canal Company (the pre-World War Two forerunner to BW) to begin its strategic withdrawal from the centre of Oxford, on the basis that the Jericho wharves were by then considered ‘ample alternative accommodation ... for delivery and stacking of all goods carried on the Canal'. Post-World War Two, the Jericho wharves contributed to the salvation of a canal threatened by closure, through providing a base for the embryonic leisure trade - including the hire fleet of British Waterways itself - which has grown to become one of the mainstays of the inland waterways in general. (Source: A Towpath Walk In Oxford by Mark Davies and Catherine Robinson, 2003)

It is therefore obvious, and very relevant, that this site has been integral to Jericho from the very beginnings of the suburb, which spread over the open fields of Great and Little Bear Meadows from the 1830s onwards. It has therefore been intimately involved in the provision of employment, trade, prosperity, community facilities and local philanthropy for well over a century and a half. [* It should be noted that the name 'Castlemill Boatyard' is a product of recent decades, not the historical name of the site]

4) Jericho community

Local residents have shown strong public support for the continuing existence of Castlemill Boatyard (and see Appendix 3). The Jericho Community Association stated on 21 Dec 2004:

'The Jericho Community Association is aware that there is strong support from within the community of Jericho for the Castlemill Boatyard to remain as a working boatyard. This was demonstrated at our AGMs in both 2003 & 2004 and also the public meeting held to discuss the planning application by Bellway Homes in September 2003.

The overwhelming view of these meetings, which has subsequently been re-inforced by emails and comments made at the Community Association's regular monthly meetings, was that residents recognise the Castlemill Boatyard as a distinctive part of our historic community. Residents expressed strong views that the canal is a lively and thriving area which complements the diversity of the rest of our locality whilst also being an important part of the historic character of Jericho itself. Anger and regret were expressed at both the possible loss of another local business and also the consequent potential loss to the vibrancy of the canal which is such an integral part of our community.

The Community Association has previously expressed its view that the needs of the Boatyard could complement the needs of a new community centre in the form of shared facilities and resources on the canal-side site. From the many opinions that we have received we believe that the residents of Jericho overwhelmingly support the continuance of a working Boatyard which can offer active support both to boat residents and visiting craft in the heart of our community.'

5) British Waterways'; heritage and consumer obligations

In British Waterways'; ‘Plan for the Future 2002 to 2006';, the following statements appear:

‘Our vision is for there to be a sustainable and integrated network of waterways throughout Britain, to provide maximum benefit and enjoyment to society both now and in the future.';

‘We will exploit our unique understanding of the waterways and our ability to manage them in an integrated way, to provide innovative and sustainable new business opportunities.';

Although the pressure to change the use of parts of the site is understood, the total removal of the yard is contrary to these ideals, in that it will:

i) Deny BW's customers access to essential services - at the very time when the number of boats needing these services is increasing.

ii) Thwart the business aspirations of those willing to provide these services (for which there is proven and consistent demand).

iii) Endanger the lives of boaters by removing access to convenient expert help needed to comply with the generally admirable intentions of the Boat Safety Scheme.

iv) Destroy the heritage value and the historical significance of a site which has a pedigree of at least 160 years.

v) Above all, lose forever the opportunity to achieve a truly integrated and genuinely useful development on this unique site.

To remove the boatyard at this time would make no strategic sense, at a time when: many years of struggle to establish additional residential moorings in Oxford have reached fruition; the Oxford Canal as a whole is proving its worth by bringing increasing numbers of visitors to the city, contributing to its interest, culture, and income; and BW maintains that re-opening the canal's terminal basin will attract new boating custom to Oxford - custom that will depend on local boatyard services.

To have left this hugely valuable site redundant for so many decades, its future uncertain, its facilities run down, and its potential unrealised, already indicates suspect judgement by BW. The current proposal confirms this suspicion by removing for ever the opportunity to achieve the integration, the sustainability, the business opportunities, and the maximum enjoyment aspired to in the statements above.

Proposal

Against all the odds, Castlemill is thriving at the heart of Oxford's residential boating community. Steve Goodlad, from his years of operating on this site, has estimated that a business could operate successfully on about 25% of the existing area. The ideal location would be just north of the centre of the site (incorporating the existing dry dock and forge, and part of College Cruisers' car park). Re-arranged thus, the boatyard could have its own boat lift, obviating the current need for large mobile cranes to be brought through the narrow streets of Jericho. The voluntary noise limit prevailing during afternoons and weekends would be maintained, and, with permanency of the operation assured by a secure tenancy, the tenant would have the confidence to install state-of-the-art sound-proofing to relevant buildings. In essence we suggest removing the business elements in the Bellway Homes plan - a restaurant (undersupplied with parking, as passing boats alone are highly unlikely to provide it with sufficient custom) and a chandlery (entirely inadequate for supplying the proven needs of local and passing boat owners) - in order to allow the existing commercial use of the site to continue, building on its track record and achieving its potential.

Furthermore, the existing cooperation with neighbouring residents could be taken a stage further. There are many potential areas of synergy between an adjusted boatyard and a new Jericho Community Centre. Local facilities such as meeting rooms, a cafe, office facilities, on-site security, even showers and a launderette, could benefit both boatyard users and Jericho residents alike.

It is to be hoped that, just as the canal is proving its true viability once again after many decades of neglect, the significance of the site's boating heritage and its intimate association with the population of Jericho will be incorporated into any new design. How much more of an asset this site could be, for the boating community, for Jericho, and for British Waterways, with a secure long-term future, providing essential services, revenue income in perpetuity, and embracing the heritage of the location, in a city where industrial archaeology is given very low priority, and what remains, therefore, is particularly to be treasured.

Compiled by Mark Davies and Emma Chapman following wide consultation with local users and associations.
7 January 2005