Opponents of the controversial Jericho Boatyard redevelopment will tomorrow hand planners a new vision for the site.

Residents want a proposed canal bridge to be scrapped - and replaced with a specially commissioned structure to create a focal point for the community.

Plans for a bridge, linking the new development with the canal towpath, were branded 'ugly' by residents who fear it will be a blot on the landscape and destroy historic views of the water- way.

Instead, they will present Oxford City Council with designs for an innovative spiral walkway that would form the 'gateway to Jericho'.

Developer Spring Resid- ential has submitted plans for 54 flats on the former British Waterways site, close to St Barnabas Church.

But the local community is bitterly opposed to the proposals and city planners have been flooded with more than 500 letters of objection.

In addition to the flats, which many feel are out of keeping with the area, residents were angered by the planned bridge linking the development's southern end, close to Great Clarendon Street, with the canal towpath.

Jenny Mann, secretary of Jericho Community Association, said: "The main objection is it's appallingly ugly.

"We would also lose the view to the Isis Lock bridge, which is a listed building in its own right."

She said trees on the towpath, that formed a green buffer between Jericho and the railway line, would be felled to make way for the planned crossing.

Cyclists and pedestrians heading for the railway station would be forced to use the narrow Castle Mill Stream bridge to cross the river.

Residents say it would create a dangerous bottleneck that would be exacerbated by any development of the Radcliffe Infirmary site.

The alternative bridge, drawn up by designer Moasser Mojdeh, would be sited 100 yards further north, connecting the area in front of St Barnabas Church with the canal towpath and the end of Rewley Road.

Mrs Mann said: "I love it, it will be the gateway to Jericho.

"It would be something special and unique to Jericho, something we can be proud of.

Resident Paul Hornby, one of the people behind the alternative plans, said the planned development would have to be altered to accommodate the new bridge.

He said the changes would create a canalside public square in front of St Barnabas Church that would become the hub of the community.

He added: "We are submitting the plans to the city council as an alternative for consideration."

The council's south and west area committee is set to rule on Spring Residential's plans in September or October.