Owners of properties in Bedern Court in Ripon face a demolition bill of at least £75,000 as arguments over a long-standing insurance claim continue.

Three apartments and a house in a block at the 29-unit residential complex were evacuated in October 2020 as sinkhole activity raised fears of a catastrophic collapse.

Bedern Court Ltd (BCL) – a not-for-profit company controlled by owners and leaseholders – is preparing a complaint to send to the insurance ombudsman, but, with the continuing deterioration of the stricken block, is faced with having to find the money to take the building down.

BCL chair, Mat Pritchard, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are already doing everything we can to mitigate the risk and, with time running out, have obtained quotes from four demolition contractors.

“These have come in at £75,000 and upwards and, unfortunately, in the absence of settlement from the insurers, the bill will have to be paid by the owners of the 29 properties.”

In pursuit of its claim, BCL has supplied insurers Aviva and QBE with detailed reports from geologists and a monitoring engineer. But Mr Pritchard pointed out:

“As we have been getting nowhere with the insurance companies, we have sought legal advice and decided to make a formal complaint to the ombudsman.”

He added:

“In addition to our protracted discussions with the insurers, we have kept all authorities updated and have used fencing to shutter off part of the courtyard area as a safety measure.”

Fencing also remains in place to block entry from Skellgaths into Peacock’s Passage, which runs alongside the affected block.

Ripon City Council wrote to North Yorkshire County Council in November calling on it to demolish the block, after city council leader Andrew Williams said:

“If the perilous state of the building means it’s not safe to walk along Peacock’s Passage, it can’t be safe to walk or drive past it on Skellgarths. It needs to be demolished as quickly and safely as possible.”

However, NYCC has said that this matter is not its responsibility and now the city council has written to Harrogate Borough Council asking it to carry out a detailed risk assessment at Bedern Court.

A Ripon orchestra is set to host its first concert of the year.

The St Cecilia Orchestra’s concert will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Ripon on Saturday, January 29, with a programme entitled ‘Glorious Strings’.

The concert showcases the orchestra’s string section in Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, along with two shorter works: the Romance in C by Sibelius and Webern’s Langsamer Satz.

The Serenade was written around the time Tchaikovsky was working on his 1812 Overture, but the two works could not be more different in style.

It is billed by Classic FM as among the best the composer ever wrote and one of the late romantic era’s definitive compositions and is particularly revered for second movement, a graceful waltz.

To complete the programme, clarinettist Tom Verity will join the strings in a performance of Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto.

The concerto, composed in 1949 in response commission from the Three Choirs Festival, is one of Finzi’s best-known and most widely performed works and shows the composer’s particular empathy for the clarinet as a solo instrument.

Tom is currently principal clarinet of the Welsh National Opera and has performed as guest principal with many orchestras including the Philharmonia and Hallé.

His chamber music highlights include working with Stephen Hough and with the Heath Quartet, and he also plays with Klezmer-ish, a classical/world music fusion quartet, whose albums Music of the Travellers and Dusty Road have been described as ‘a joyous combination of playfulness and precision’ by The Times.

Tickets are £15 for adults and free for under 18’s. Available online from the St Cecilia website, from the Little Ripon Bookshop and Henry Roberts, or reserve by phone on 01423 531062.

In line with current guidance, audience members should wear face coverings and the seating will be socially distanced. There will be a short interval, but unfortunately no refreshments in order to minimise mingling.

Parking spaces will be temporarily reduced in Ripon from next week while resurfacing work is carried out at the city’s biggest car park.

Work on the 193-bay Cathedral Car Park starts on Monday and is scheduled to be completed by February 11.

Signs say that over the three weeks, there will be ‘restricted parking’ available.

Other public car parks serving the city centre are at The Arcade, Market Place North (except on Thursdays) Victoria Grove, St Marygate and Marshall Way retail park.

Plea for wider bays

Before local company A. E. Duffield begins the £85,000 contract, Ripon City Council has reiterated its call for spaces on the car park to be widened to accommodate the larger vehicles that many people now drive.

At Monday evening’s city council meeting, members were told by town clerk Paula Benson that Harrogate Borough Council had not as yet responded to correspondence about the request for enlarged spaces.

It agreed to make further contact with Harrogate Borough Council after council leader Andrew Williams said:

“With the work due to start next week, we need an answer from them.”

A new, comprehensive bus service for Ripon could be up and running as soon as April.

Ripon is served by regular Transdev 36 buses, which link the city with Harrogate and Leeds.

But local buses are limited and Ripon City Council’s transport group has been trying for several years to create a more joined-up service.

Councillor Peter Horton, who chairs the transport group, said plans to create a more integrated bus timetable for all parts of Ripon were being put out to tender by North Yorkshire County Council.

He told Monday’s Ripon City Council meeting:

“The integrated passenger transport authority now has monies available from the Doublegates housing development to help fund the comprehensive scheme we put forward.

“This would serve our growing city up to six days a week.

“The hope is that the service could be operating by April, but that will depend on the response to the tender from bus operators.”

New housing developments in Ripon have enabled the parish precept charged to council tax payers in the city to be frozen for the second successive year.

The parish precept is charged on top of the tax paid to North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

It means residents living in a Band D property will pay a parish precept of £71.89 for the year. People in Bands A to C properties will pay less and those in Bands E to H will pay more.

At last night’s meeting of Ripon City Council, the draft budget for 2022-2023 was unanimously approved after independent council leader Andrew Williams told members:

“Because of the increased number of new houses built in Ripon, we are able to raise a levy of £410,902, at no extra cost to the charge payer.”

Hugh Ripley Hall

The figure represents a 3% increase for the parish council budget, which stood at £400,000 last year and Cllr Williams explained:

“As we are collecting from a larger base, we are able to freeze the precept for the second year running.

“We believe that this is the right and proper thing to do, at a time when families are under greater financial pressure through increased fuel and other costs.”

The bulk of the money will be spent on the queen’s platinum jubilee celebration in June, other public and civic events during the year and items including town hall rent and the management and upkeep of Hugh Ripley Hall and Ripon’s team of hornblowers.

Conservative councillor Mike Chambers, who represents Ripon at city, district and county council level, said:

“I am delighted that there will be no increase in the parish precept and I lend it my support.”

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Harrogate Borough Council is being urged to return assets such as the town hall and spa gardens to local ownership in Ripon before devolution comes into effect next year.

Harrogate Borough Council took control of the assets when it was created following local government reorganisation in 1974.

At the same time the Municipal Borough of Ripon was abolished and the city reduced to parish council status under the authority of Harrogate Borough Council.

Now, with another major shake-up of local government looming, Ripon City Council is calling for the city’s town hall, Hugh Ripley Hall, Market Square (pictured below), Spa Gardens and Spa Park to be transferred back to local ownership.

It says provisions in the Localism Act, designed to protect assets of community value (ACV), should be used to achieve this prior to the formation of the new North Yorkshire unitary authority next year.

Moves are already underway to retain community use at Spa Baths, after the city council successfully applied in September to have the historic building listed as an ACV.

Market Square

With Harrogate Borough Council due to be scrapped in April next year, independent Ripon city and district councillor Pauline McHardy told the Stray Ferret:

“There’s absolutely no reason for Harrogate to hang on to assets that rightfully belong to us.

“Not a penny was paid for them when they were handed to Harrogate in 1974 and we want them to be transferred back.”

Cllr McHardy put forward a notice of motion, seconded by fellow Ripon independent councillor Sid Hawke, which was due to be discussed at Harrogate Borough Council’s full council meeting in December, but the meeting was cancelled.

The motion calling for the return of the assets, is due to come before next month’s full meeting of HBC.

Cllr McHardy, pointed out:

“We will continue to press for the freehold of key assets in the city to be handed back to Ripon.”

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Ripon City Council has set aside £105,000 for four days of celebrations to mark this year’s queen’s platinum jubilee.

To celebrate the queen’s reign as the longest-serving British monarch, Ripon will stage events for people of all ages over an extended Bank Holiday weekend from June 2 to 5.

There will be a civic service on the morning of June 2 at Ripon Cathedral (pictured below) and a street party the following day. Other activities will range from concerts to light shows that will turn buildings red, white and blue.

The city has deep royal roots dating back to Alfred The Great, who allegedly awarded Ripon its charter horn in 886,

In an echo of this, the city is commissioning the production of a new platinum jubilee horn in honour of the queen.

It will be used by a member of the hornblower team in the setting of the watch ceremony, which takes place nightly at 9pm at the obelisk in Market Square.

Four-day ‘extravaganza’

A peal of bells will sound at on February 6 to signal the platinum jubilee.

The bells will mark the 70th anniversary of the death of the queen’s father, King George VI.

His death in 1952 saw his elder daughter, the then 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth, take the throne.

Council leader Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are aiming to create a four-day jubilee extravaganza that can be enjoyed by all members of the community. Beyond the bank holiday, the new horn will provide a lasting legacy and reminder of the queen’s remarkable service.

“The  council is working in partnership with Ripon Cathedral, Ripon BID and Ripon Together in planning the many activities and events that will take place.”

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Entries are now open for Ripon Civic Society’s biennial design awards, which recognise the best architecture in the Ripon area.

The awards are usually held every two years but covid forced their cancellation in 2020. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on April 7.

Applications are being sought in six categories, from private individuals, developers, builders and related trades for suitable projects, completed within the past four years.

A copy of the application form for the 2022 awards, which should be completed and submitted by January 31, can be downloaded from the civic society website. 

The last awards in 2018 marked the society’s golden jubilee year.

Winners included the Himalayan Garden in Grewelthorpe, which won the Younge Rosebowl for Best Environmental Improvement.

The Spa at Swinton Park and High Trees, a new house on the former college site in Ripon, were named joint winners of the Hazzard Cup for the Best New Building.

The Spa at Swinton

High Trees also took the Sustainability Award.

High Trees

The Folly! art installations in the water garden at Studley Royal were named as winner of the John Whitehead Award, with which the civic society recognised an outstanding contribution to the area.

The Folly! art installation.

Society chairman Christopher Hughes, said:

“Due to the onset of the covid pandemic in 2020 our design awards ceremony due to be held that year was unfortunately but unavoidably cancelled.

“We are delighted to announce however that the delayed awards ceremony will now be held on Thursday 7 April and further details regarding the venue will be announced shortly.”

The full list of categories for which applications can be made are:

• The Hazzard Silver Cup for Best New Building
• The Price Flagon for Best Restored Building
• The Younge Rosebowl for Best Environmental Improvement
• The Craftsmanship Shield for Best Craftsmanship
• The Taylor Plate for the Best Contribution to City Centre Revitalisation
• The Sustainability Award

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Upwards of 1,500 New Year’s eve revellers were on Ripon’s Market Square as the hands on the town hall clock reached midnight.

The only major public gathering to be held in the Harrogate district, went ahead  last night, in spite of a couple of eleventh-hour issues.

While other events across the UK and the world, from Edinburgh to New York, were cancelled because of coronavirus concerns, the city’s residents came out in force to let their hair down at the end of a covid-restricted year.

Because of circumstances beyond the city council’s control, the planned fireworks finale was called off and there was also a late change to the concert performers, with the Movie Night Show singing duo (pictured below) taking over from the Big Boyband Reunion.

Oasis tribute act Definitely Mightbe  (Pictured below) were the headline act on a night of free music, which saw crowd numbers steadily climb as people headed to Market Square after dining or drinking in Ripon’s restaurants and pubs.

Concerns raised on Thursday about the level of emergency medical cover for the event were overcome and two ambulance crews were on duty throughout the night.

A team of six from the OSR Medical Ambulance Service (pictured below) which works in partnership with the NHS to cover large public events, was on hand to deal with any incidents or injuries and reported just one – a young woman who cut her foot on broken glass.

In his New Year address from the town hall balcony, the Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, had special praise for volunteers, who have been involved in the roll out of the covid vaccination programme throughout 2021.

He said:

“It has been a challenging 12 months and I, as mayor of this great city, would like to pay thanks to the many volunteers who have worked incredibly hard this year at the vaccination site.

“I also thank those who have helped the vulnerable, neighbours and elderly in these difficult times”

Cllr Parkin, pictured below with the Bishop of Ripon The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley – who gave the final blessing, added:

“The city council is also indebted to the many people, from doctors and nurses, to delivery drivers and retail staff, who have worked so tirelessly to support all of us over the past year.”

Prior to his address and the bishop’s blessing, the mayor and Dean of Ripon The Very Revd. John Dobson led a candle-lit procession (pictured below) from Ripon Cathedral to Market Square.

The procession, symbolising the bringing of light and hope to the New Year, followed an end of year service of carols and prayers at the cathedral.

Three hours before the clocks struck midnight, the evening of entertainment began in traditional style, as Richard Midgley (pictured below) one of Ripon’s four hornblowers carried out the setting of the watch ceremony at the four corners of the obelisk.

From March 2020 until the lifting of lockdown on 19 July 2021, covid regulations saw Richard and his colleagues confined to performing the 9pm nightly ceremony behind closed doors at their own homes.

The tradition dating back to 886 AD and the much newer New Year’s Eve celebration, which has been in place since 1986, are part of the fabric of a proud and ancient city.

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