Cathedral plans will 'enhance' Ripon

Cathedral plans will ‘enhance’ Ripon

Last updated Mar 3, 2024

Dean John on Kirkgate

This is the second part of an interview with the Very Revd John Dobson, the Dean of Ripon Cathedral. You can read part one here.

When Ripon Cathedral began considering land near the toilet block on Minster Gardens for its new building, a visiting officer from Historic England said in 2020 “we think you’ve found the answer”.

He even suggested planning permission could be secured by Christmas.

There was wider talk of a cathedral quarter and of closing the road outside the cathedral to traffic. Dean John talks favourably about the road being redesigned and calmed to become a shared space for vehicles and pedestrians, similar to the area outside Durham Cathedral. but it is not on the agenda now.

Historic England had rejected plans for a south side building so its warm words were encouraging. After two years developing ideas, the Minster Garden plans were unveiled at an exhibition that included a model of the proposed annexe, which has remained in the cathedral ever since.

The planning application was submitted in 2022 and Dean John says the initial response appeared favourable. But storm clouds were brewing. He says:

“We became aware at around that time that one of the trees on the site was being re-designated a veteran tree. It hadn’t been a veteran tree while we were doing our plans.”

42% more green space

A computer generated image of how the annex would look.

The impact on trade, and the loss of the beech tree and public space have become the main bones of contention. The size of the annexe has also raised concerns.

Dean John says 21% of Minster Gardens — alongside the current toilet block — would be lost under the current plans:

“It’s a significant proportion, but it’s not all of it and it’s certainly not the bit that’s mainly used.”

He adds the scheme would create new public gardens at back of the stonemason’s yard, meaning the amount of public green space would actually increase by 42% — something he says many people don’t realise:

“It is possible that some people are objecting to something that isn’t being proposed.

“I do appreciate the beech tree is a concern. But what I do object to is those people who are in a sense trying to oppose us who put out photographs of where the memorial garden is and the lawn behind it, which goes down to the courthouse, as if that’s what we are building on. That very precisely is what we are not building on. We believe our proposals will actually enhance this area.”

Dean John acknowledges some people won’t accept the loss of any trees — and that this view may prevail — but adds:

“I regard that as an extreme view – that you can’t have any development at all because you can’t take any trees down.”

The mitigation plans include planting 21 trees around the cathedral, including six mature specimens. A private individual has indicated they are willing to plant another 300 trees on their land. Some campaigners say these trees should be publicly accessible to offset the loss of trees on Minster Gardens. Dean John says he doesn’t understand this argument and that the private landowner deserves to remain private:

“Those 300 trees will enhance the environment. The enhancement to Ripon people is there will be more green space and 21 trees.”

‘It would help Ripon flourish’

The estimated cost of the annexe has risen from £6 million to £8 million in recent months, which reflects rising costs but Dean John says both figures are loose estimates because the scale of the final project remains unknown.

The cathedral would also have to buy land from North Yorkshire Council and no sum has been agreed. Is the dean confident of securing funds? He says:

“Absolutely not at all. There is no confidence over this, other than Ripon Cathedral must be worth it, Ripon must be worth it and there must be enough people in North Yorkshire and beyond who also think it’s worth it, so once we have a project that gets permissions we can go to those people who have shown themselves to be generous in the past and ask them to be generous again.

“It is not fair for me to have them commit themselves to something when they don’t know what it is and whether it’s deliverable.”

Dean John Dobson

He says he’s “perplexed by those people who have said there has been no consultation” given how long the issue has been rumbling, adding:

“One can only reflect on what’s gone on over this last year, which seems to me to partially chaotic and bewildering, when there are people in the city saying it’s the first they’ve heard of it.”

He says the south side proposal would have involved removing at least 600 burials and “we would have had trouble with that” even though the initial response also seemed favourable then.

Similar new facilities at Lincoln Cathedral and Carlisle Cathedral are “doing brilliantly” for the church and the wider cities, he says:

“Why there is such a lack of confidence here in Ripon to think that actually Ripon could never see this, I think is sad. Because it seems to me Ripon has a lot to be confident about. It really could flourish in a way the cathedral could help happen.”

Lies and mistruths

He says some people “have worked very hard to create a different narrative” and a few have been “quite intimidating” to cathedral staff and volunteers. He adds:

“The way social media is now working in our society is alarming. How do we have an honest public conversation when people can put out any lies and mistruths they want and develop a narrative? It seems deliberate, but perhaps they believe it.”

He insists there is a way forward and the cathedral is not impervious to change:

“We have compromised once by moving the site and would compromise again.

“If we have to compromise to the extent that actually what we are left with doesn’t deliver what we need, well there’s no point putting the effort into building it and we wouldn’t convince our financial backers it’s worth backing anyway.”

Having spent years examining the options, Dean John is familiar with the arguments put forward. He says:

“When you come to Ripon Cathedral and think, ‘Oh, well it needs these facilities, the answers are obvious’. I can tell you – they aren’t obvious.

“Historic England thought that. They suggested schemes at the east end and the north-east corner. When we actually walked round the site with them and explained the geology – how the land falls away, and how you’d have to connect it to the cathedral coming uphill or by having to break through the cathedral walls at the east end they soon realised there was nowhere around the cathedral for a building.”

Breaking the impasse

The view from Minster Gardens.

Despite the impasse, the dean hopes the pause will lead to progress:

“The purpose of the pause — and it may be a vain attempt — is an attempt on our part to enable people to hear the facts as we in the cathedral perceive them, i.e. these are the actual proposals, this is where we are proposing to build, these are the trees that would be affected by it, this would be the mitigation plan.

“Many people think this is a fantastic scheme that would enhance the cathedral, that would enhance what could be a cathedral quarter and would enhance the city. It would have economic benefits and it would have an aesthetic benefit. Many people believe that.”

He encourages residents to have their say.

“We genuinely want to hear what people think. If people of Ripon are really against this, well, say so. But actually, are they? I’m not convinced we know whether they are or not. Many haven’t engaged with the precise proposal.”

Dean John often buys sandwiches from a trader nearby who opposes the scheme. He says:

“But we haven’t fallen out. It’s perfectly reasonable for people to take a contrary view. What isn’t reasonable is for people to just make things up to create an alternative narrative. That I think is hugely disappointing and detrimental.”

The route forward appears uncertain and a quick resolution seems unlikely. Is Dean John confident the scheme will eventually go ahead?

“Well, I’m hopeful. It seems to me the arguments are compelling; the benefits are overwhelming. But I do accept some people are very unhappy about it. The question is: how many, and why, and how we address that. But we cannot carry on just looking at more and more options.”