Extensive subsidence has caused the evacuation of four properties in a Ripon housing development.

The problem is believed to be caused by sinkholes in the area.

It was deemed so severe that owners of two of the properties in Bedern Court were advised by tenancy management company Joplings to tell tenants they had to leave for their own safety.

Mat Pritchard, whose 81-year-old father Norman was living in 5 Bedern Court, had to rapidly make arrangements for him to move out.

Tenants at the other properties, 1 and 3 Bedern Court and 17 Skellgarths, which is within the scheme, have also had to move out at very short notice.

Mr Pritchard is chairperson for Bedern Court Ltd, which is a non-profit company controlled by leaseholders and owners.

It manages the leaseholds and freeholds for the 29-unit brick-built block, which was built in 1986.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“The block has now been in effect, partially condemned for human habitation, with numbers 3 and 5 worst affected and issues also affecting the neighbouring  properties at 1 Bedern Court and 17 Skellgarths.”

Mr Pritchard said:

“Joplings told BCL that a recent geo-technical and building site investigation had returned very concerning results and they believed that flats 3 and 5 were no longer safely habitable.”

Jane and Mat Pritchard are pictured at Bedern Court, where their flat is deemed unsafe because of major subsidence issues.

He added:

“Our priority was the safety of the tenants after large internal and external cracks opened up. Because of the visible shift of the building it was also necessary to evacuate the two adjoining properties.”

The block is within the shadow of Ripon Cathedral and alongside one of the main routes into the city centre.

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An adjacent block of flats built after the Bedern Court development was subsequently demolished and Peacock’s Passage, which runs between the two sites, has clear signs of subsidence.

BCL believe that sinkholes in the area are the likely cause of the subsidence, but claims dating back to 2009 lodged with underwriters Aviva and subsequently QBE, have been turned down by both insurers.

Mr Pritchard said:

“In the urgent situation we find ourselves, we have lodged a further claim with QBE.

“We have also contacted our MP Julian Smith and Ripon City Council seeking any help or advice they can give us and we will continue to ask for cooperation from the owners of neighbouring sites.”

Ripon City Council has unanimously rejected a transport report commissioned by Homes England for the proposed 1,300-home Ripon Barracks development.

The report in support of the development came under heavy fire at Monday’s virtual full council meeting.

In the longest debate of Monday evening, the consultants’ findings were described as ‘flawed’

Council leader Andrew Williams said:

“The report fails to address core issues that local residents and the city council have raised.”

Cllr Williams said the council supported the principle of developing the former army bases, but added:

“A great deal more needs to be done, especially with regard to addressing the questions about the capacity of major junctions in the city.

“With such a flawed report, it is impossible for us to support the outline planning application for this huge scheme.”

The Ripon Barracks site

Councillor Mike Chambers, who is also a district and county councillor, agreed a number of key transport matters needed to be addressed.

He seconded Cllr Williams’ motion for a letter to be sent  to Harrogate Borough Council planners, calling for resolution of outstanding issues before outline planning can be approved.

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Both he and Cllr Williams met last week with David Walpole, a traffic consultant appointed by the city council to look at the impact of the Clotherholme scheme on the the feeder road network and the city as a whole.

One issue that featured in the Walpole report was the amount of traffic generated by a new primary school in the development.

Cllr Williams said the report for Homes England had not taken account of the fact that 132 places at the school will be provided for children living ‘off-site’ in other parts of Ripon, creating traffic movements that had not been accounted for in the overall assessment of mitigation measures that would need to be taken to alleviate pressure on the road network.

Councillor Pauline McHardy told the meeting:

“This is the biggest single development ever seen in Ripon and its size has consequences, not just for the immediate area, but the whole of the city for years to come.

“Traffic movements to and from the site will impact on everybody and we have a duty to ensure that the developers provide the required road infrastructure and don’t cut corners.”

In the run up to this year’s Remembrance Day, almost 40,000 knitted poppies have appeared around Harrogate and Ripon.

Between 25,000 and 30,000 poppies can be seen at prime locations throughout Ripon, after people involved in the Ripon Community Poppy Project spent thousands of hours making the stunning displays.

Many of the poppies were put in place over the weekend. The cascading display on the walls of the town hall (below), was installed with help from a Ripon fire station crew.

The ones seen in Harrogate town centre were donated to the Poppy Appeal campaign last year.

They were put up this morning by a small socially distanced group including Harrogate Mayor Cllr Stuart Martin.

Fiona Burks, of independent business Yarn Etc helped to coordinate the effort, and will be offering poppies to businesses for their window displays.

Cllr Stuart Martin said:

“The comments we’ve had since putting them up this morning are just tremendous. People are so pleased that we’re making an effort for Remembrance Day and you can’t help but smile when you see them.”

Cllr Martin is encouraging people to commemorate Remembrance Day on November 11 by observing two minutes of silence from their doorstep, and placing poppies in windows.

In Ripon … 

Cascading display down Ripon’s town hall.

The entrance to Spa Gardens.

Volunteers in Ripon fitting the knitted poppies to the railings along Kirkgate.

Along the shopping street of Kirkgate.

Spa Park. Credit: Cllr Stuart Martin

Along the railings outside the Wakeman’s House.

Ripon bus station. Credit: Cllr Stuart Martin

In Harrogate … 

Across from Harrogate war memorial. Credit: Cllr Stuart Martin

Along the railings outside of Bettys cafe in Harrogate. Credit: Cllr Stuart Martin

On the corner of Cambridge Street, Harrogate. Credit: Cllr Stuart Martin.

The Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion has received a £1,000 donation from the city council.

In a year when fundraising initiatives for the Poppy Appeal have been scaled back, Jeet Bahadur Sahi, chair of the Legion’s Ripon branch, said it welcomed the donation “with open arms”.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“We greatly appreciate this support from the council, as our selling of poppies this year is necessarily having to be on a much smaller scale than in normal years.”

The money is from the council’s events budget. Council leader Andrew Williams, said:

“We decided that the money we had set aside for the Remembrance Sunday service, which cannot go ahead, should be given to the Royal British Legion.”

Mr Sahi, who served as a Gurkha for 22 years and has been chair of the Royal British Legion Ripon branch since 2013, said the coronavirus crisis prevented the Army Cadets, scouts and Air Force Cadets from collecting on the streets this year and there would be no stall on the market.

The appeal has, in recent years, raised up to £20,000 but this year’s fundraising efforts will rely heavily on people buying poppies from the city’s supermarkets.

Cllr Eamon Parkin, Mayor of Ripon.

Although fundraising activities have been disrupted, acts of remembrance will still be held in a safe and limited way.

At 11am on Saturday, October 31, standard bearers will be at the Royal British Legion garden of remembrance, which opened next to Ripon Cathedral in 2018 after a successful fundraising campaign headed by Mr Sahi and supported by Econ Engineering.

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After the ground is blessed by clergy from the cathedral, members of the public will be able to place small wooden crosses near the plinth.

Cllr Parkin said:

“I hope people will be as generous as possible when buying their poppy in this difficult year for all charities.”

This year, the Ripon Community Poppy Project, run by local residents Hazel Barker, Carol Dunkley and Cllr Stuart Martin, will again see knitted poppies put on display at prime locations in the city, in the run up to Remembrance Sunday and a few days beyond.

A senior officer, with responsibility for policing in Ripon, has reassured people the city does not have a major problem with gangs after a mother expressed concerns.

The mother, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Stray Ferret she and other parents feared Ripon was witnessing an increase in gangs, violence and intimidation.

There have also been recent incidents of vandalism, including the breaking of windows in the city centre and damage caused to the surface of a children’s playground in Grove Lane.

The mother said:

“The impression that I and other mothers I meet have is that there is a growing gang culture, which links into drug taking and dealing.

“It can be intimidating seeing groups of youths, some on bikes, congregating in parts of the city late at night and we are concerned that some might be carrying knives. We fear that somebody is going to be hurt and believe that something needs to be done.”

Inspector Steve Breen, (pictured above) who presented a report to Harrogate Borough Council in March on actions taken by North Yorkshire Police to tackle knife crime, said he wanted to assuage concerns and introduce a sense of proportion.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“We have essentially eradicated knife crime in Ripon through proactive use of stop and search tactics and intelligence-led disruption activity, leading to the imprisonment of some key individuals.”

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He added

“This problem existed within a small group of drug users and dealers across the district and did not impinge on innocent members of the public. There is no problem with knife crime in Ripon.”

Regarding the vandalism that temporarily closed the children’s playground, Insp Breen said:

“I reinforce the message that parents need to know where their children are, who they are with, and what they are up to.

“I urge the public to report issues they are concerned about via 101 or 999 in an emergency.”

“We are active in suppressing antisocial behaviour through home visits to problem individuals, the issuing of cease and desist letters, and working with schools, social workers, youth charities and other partners to engage and divert young people from nuisance activity.”

Two cultural organisations in Ripon have welcomed ‘lifeline’ government funding totalling more than £170,000 this week.

Ripon Museum Trust was awarded £117,500 and Ripon Amateur Operatic Society received £54,339 from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, which is administered by Arts Council England.

A total of 1,385 organisations across the country received funding.

Helen Thornton, director of the trust said it was “absolutely delighted”, adding:

“This grant is a lifeline for a small independent museum trust like ours. This investment will get us through the very challenging times ahead as what we can offer schools and groups is reduced due to the covid pandemic and the safety measures we have put in place.”

Ripon Amateur Operatic Society, which is run solely by volunteers and is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, received £54,339.

RAOS has been unable to perform any shows in 2020.

Its city centre arts space at 49 Allhallowgate, acquired by the society several years ago, has also been unable to provide facilities for other organisations, artists and performers since March.

Society chair Linda Aikman said:

“This grant will allow us to make the venue completely covid-secure so we can safely allow audiences in again in line with guidelines and legislation.

“It means that the membership, including our youth theatre, can confidently rehearse and perform again, can deliver some much needed entertainment to the local community in a safe way, and not be constrained by financial aspects.”

The Ripon Amateur Operatic Society headquarters in Allhallowgate

Linda, added:

“One of the challenges we were facing was how to bring what we do to a limited audience without making a loss. The grant now means that performances can go ahead without us having to charge extortionate ticket prices to make ends meet.”

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Hannah Ruddy, the society’s marketing and publicity manager, pointed out:

“We will be using the grant to support local artists and give them a viable platform to perform once again at the same time as providing the community with the cultural opportunities that have, unfortunately, been so adversely affected by the pandemic. We would love to hear from local artists and performers who could benefit.”

The society is also embarking on a separate project to make the building more accessible and usable to more people. Fundraising for this aspect – which cannot be funded from the CRF grant i-s ongoing.

Subject to local or national restrictions, the society will stage its first performance of the year at Allhallowgate at the end of November.

Details will be published on  www.riponoperatics.org and Facebook Page @riponamateuroperaticsociety as soon as possible.

Concerns that Harrogate Borough Council wants to ‘kill off’ ancient markets in Knaresborough and Ripon will be voiced at a meeting this evening.

Almost 4,000 people have signed a Save our Markets petition set up by stallholders in both locations.

The petition began after HBC increased rents by more than 25 per cent for stallholders standing at markets across the Harrogate district.

The increase, which came into effect on 1 August, applies to stalls that are supplied by the council and erected and dismantled by its employees.

Traders with their own self-erect stalls do not have to pay the additional money.

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The market traders’ petition will be presented at this evening’s virtual full council meeting, at which Steve Teggin, president of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and a life-long supporter of markets, will speak on behalf of stallholders.

David Tomlinson, who was involved in co-ordinating the petition in Knaresborough, runs a stationery stall at the Wednesday market.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“At a time of uncertainty caused by the covid pandemic, which continues to affect all aspects of the business community, we are having to fight for our future.”

Brian Murphy at his stall on Ripon Market.

Mr Tomlinson, pointed out:

“There is a genuine feeling in Knaresborough that the council wants to kill the markets off. Their introduction of a 25 per cent rent increase shortly after many stallholders had been unable to trade for 11 weeks, could not have been worse timing.”

Some traders received £8,000 last month from the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, which supports small and micro businesses affected by covid.

Mr Tomlinson said this helped to offset losses during the 11-week lockdown but did not offer long-term security.

His concerns were echoed in Ripon, where Brian Murphy’s family has run a stall selling fruit and vegetables for more than 100 years.

Mr Murphy, who represents the city’s market traders, said:

“In every other local authority area, council’s have gone out of their way to support the continuity of the markets by giving both food and non-food stallholders rent-free periods or rent reductions – but not Harrogate.”

At a full meeting of HBC in July, Councillor Andy Paraskos, cabinet member with responsibility for the district’s markets, said a number of measures have been put in place by the council to support traders and promote the markets.

This included waiving fees for traders unable to attend markets because of government restrictions during the covid lockdown period and promotion of market days on social media.

He told the meeting:

“There has been a rumour going around that HBC is wanting to get rid of the markets. This is not true.”

A HBC spokesman told the Stray Ferret earlier this month its new payment system was “more flexible” and would lead to some traders paying less. He added:

“It currently costs us £15 each time we need to assemble a stall on behalf of a trader and given the number of stalls at both weekly markets, it ends up costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds per year.”

Ripon is to lose two long-established shops, with the closures of Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Ponden Home.

Closing down sales signs are in the windows of both shops after Edinburgh Woollen Mill group – which owns both brands – filed a notice of intent to appoint administrators.

Staff at Edinburgh Woollen Mill’s store in Market Place East and Ponden Home in Kirkgate were informed of the situation in a letter on Friday.

The notice of intent is designed to give time for the group, which owns other high street names, including Jaeger and Peacocks, to enable insolvency experts to assess the business and advise on future actions.

The Ponden Home shop in Kirkgate.

While some parts of the giant retail group may be saved, the closing down sale notices were quickly in place at the group’s Ripon stores.

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The notice of intention lodged in the High Court temporarily halts existing or pending creditor action by creating a 10-day period that protects them from the immediate threat of liquidation.

In a statement, Steve Simpson, chief executive of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill group, said the move would “provide a short breathing space to assess options”.

He added:

“Like every retailer, we have found the past seven months extremely difficult.

“This situation has grown worse in recent weeks as we have had to deal with a series of false rumours about our payments and trading, which have impacted our credit insurance.

“As directors we have a duty to the business, our staff, our customers and our creditors to find the very best solution in this brutal environment.”

When Lacey Dyason decided to take part in the Brave the Shave challenge for Macmillan Cancer Support, she hoped to raise £500.

At the time of publication, the eight-year-old pupil of Ripon Cathedral Church of England Primary School had raised more than £1,900 and counting.

As well as joining in the nationwide event to bring in funds for Macmillan, Lacey also supported the Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides real hair wigs to children with cancer.

Saks Hair Salon in High Skellgate, which works with the trust, was the setting for Lacey’s hair cut and shave, watched by her mother and father Louise and Barry, with support from grandparents Doreen and Stewart Ellis.

Hairstylist Samantha Waggitt prepares to cut Lacey’s long her

The double gesture, from one of the youngest people in the UK to take part in Brave the Shave won the hearts of many in the city.

Steven Holmes, headteacher of Lacey’s school, wrote in the school’s newsletter:

“We are so impressed with her loving attitude and the way that Lacey is aspiring to be the best person she can be.”

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On Lacey’s Macmillan fundraising page, the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, said:

“Well done you brave young lady, we are very proud of you.”

Similar comments have flooded in from 69 donors, whose donations ranging from £5 to £100 mean Lacey has raised almost four times her original target.

With her fundraising page,  Lacey’s Brave the Shave, still open, it looks certain that she will exceed £2,000.

So what does Lacey think of her new look?

She told the Stray Ferret:

“I was a bit shocked when I looked in the mirror, but I think it’s ok.”

Grandmother Doreen, who was among those who attempted to dissuade Lacey from having her head shaved, pointed out:

“Along with Barry and Louise, I tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined. We are so proud of her.”

Barry, added:

“We were absolutely amazed by the generosity of all the donors and would like to say a big thank you to everybody who has supported her.”

Lacey doesn’t have to worry about feeling the colder autumn weather.

Louise, said:

“It was her birthday earlier this month and among her presents, she received seven woolly hats – one for every day of the week!”

At the height of the coronavirus crisis, Helen Flynn, co-chair of Nidderdale Plus, vowed that nobody in Nidderdale or the Washburn Valley would go without help.

The community hub based in Pateley Bridge has been playing a key administrative role in marshalling an army of volunteers.

Among the 600 people to come forward was a team from Bewerley Park Outdoor Learning Centre – itself temporarily closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The centre’s instructors Ian Coates and Heather Tuffs, along with trainees Byrony Hart and Rowan Bonney rallied to the call.

Over four months, they walked, cycled and drove thousands of miles, making free deliveries of vital items to people stuck in their homes.

Jenny and Frank Braithwaite, who were among the hundreds of people in Nidderdale to receive home deliveries during the coronavirus lockdown

Help for people in self-isolation continues, but is not as intensive as it was at the outset, when the team worked six days a week.

Over the period, a close working relationship grew between the Bewerley team and the Chandler family, whose Spar Shop, at the foot of Pateley Bridge High Street, became a centre for handling telephone orders and assembling and distributing boxes and bags containing food, drink, prescriptions, pet supplies and other essential items.

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The goods were supplied by the Spar shop and a host of other retailers in the town.

While making her deliveries on a bicycle with a trailer provided by Bewerley Park’s former head, Sam Cook, Heather Tuffs was also collecting stories, messages of thanks, photographs, anecdotes, poems and hand-drawn pictures for a book which she has called Lockdown 2020.

Heather told the Stray Ferret:

“I was inspired by the way in which the Chandlers were going the extra mile to help people and thought it needed to be recorded and recognised that, at a time of need in Nidderdale, they rose to the occasion.”

She added:

“It was also a way for me to say thank you for being able to meet so many lovely people in parts of Nidderdale I’d hadn’t previously been to.”

After hard days of pedal-powered deliveries – some of them involving the steep climb up Greenhow Hill – Heather wrote, designed and published her book, paying for it from donations made by the people who appear in it.

Its 160 pages capture the community’s response to the coronavirus crisis.

Retailers such as Kendall’s and Weatherhead butchers, fishmonger Fish With a Twist, Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, Park View Stores, Dales Market Corner, the Sandwich Box, worked in collaboration with the Chandler Spar Shop, Nidderdale Plus, The Rev Daryl Hall and countless volunteers.

The publication, which includes a touching reference to husband, father and grandfather Colin Chandler, who died in November 2007, came as a complete surprise to the family.

Speaking on behalf of them, Lee Chandler, said:

“We already know that Heather is a very special, kind and caring person and her book, which brings both smiles and tears, is something that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. We’re sure Dad would have been proud.”