Jericho could soon be home to a new public square, with shops, cafes and a new community centre looking out onto the canal.

The ambitious plans are detailed in a multi-million pound proposal that has just been unveiled by a city community group, Jericho Living Heritage Trust It says the money to create this vision for the boatyard site will be possible with donations and a £2m grant from the Community builders fund.

Sarah Murphy said: “The plan is to buy the land as a community and create something special for the community of Jericho, rather than a block of flats, .

“We are all very excited about it, and we want the boatyard to become the setting for a beautiful jewel – St Barnabas Church.”

She added: “It will hopefully become like a public hub with the new square and a community centre looking out onto the canal, seeing boats go past.

“The overall objective is obviously to get the site to pay for itself and for it to become a lovely destination for both residents and tourists.”

The boatyard site currently stands empty and previous plans to develop it into new flats on the canal front were rejected in 2008.

It is hoped work on the new development could start as early as 2012.

Susanna Pressel, city councillor for Jericho and Osney, said: “The local community would love to see this kind of development on this very special site.

“Jericho badly needs a new community centre and it would be lovely to have a large new public square by the canal, a new footbridge and a boatyard.

“However, we haven’t seen a planning application yet so we will have to wait and see what they submit.

“There’s also the big problem about whether Jericho Living Heritage will be able to afford to buy the site.”

The plans were designed by London-based architects Haworth Tompkins and local residents seemed impressed with the plans.

Emmett Schlueter lives overlooking the site, and said: “I think these plans are very good for the situation we are in. It’s pretty and it seems workable.

“The architects have a good grasp of what is important to us – it needs to keep the feel of Jericho, as we don’t want to walk in there and feel like we’re in another city.”

North Oxford resident Alison Bickmore said: “I am very anxious to see this development remain a community thing. I used to own a boat here, so I know how important it is to fully use the canal in the plans.”

And Jenny Mann, secretary of the Jericho Community Association, said: “I’m very positive about this. The plans look very understated and low key, in keeping with the area.”

Jericho will find out if they have received the £2m grant from the Communitybuilders fund in January, before finding out about their bid for the site in March.