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30
Dec 2024
4: Major Ripon planning application: Can you see the wood for the trees?
In this article, which is part of a series on the 12 major stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2024, we look at the controversial Ripon Cathedral annexe planning application that has continued to divide opinion throughout the year.
The Stray Ferret has reported extensively on the proposed £8 million development which, if approved, will see a two-storey annexe for Ripon Cathedral built on Minster Gardens - a public green open space currently owned by North Yorkshire Council.
The plans have divided the local community, while attracting the attention of Woodland Trust patron and Bond movie star Dame Judi Dench, leading environmentalists and the national, regional and local media.
The standalone annexe would include a song school for the cathedral's excellent choristers, a 70-seat refectory, gift shop and an accessible Changing Places toilet, while also providing additional storage space.
However, to make room for the scheme, up to a dozen mature trees would be felled and the Woodland Trust has stated that a veteran beech on the site, which has been on its Inventory of Ancient Treees since the autumn of 2022, will be under threat of damage to its roots and bough, in spite of proposed measures in the revised plans designed to see it escape the axe.
After the new proposals were unveiled in November, the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson said, in an interview published by the Stray Ferret:
This is an opportunity to develop a Cathedral Quarter, which the Ripon City Plan called for. It’s much more than a building – it's about developing the cathedral and enhancing the area around it, which the city desperately needs.
I don’t expect 100% of people to be behind the new plans – although that would be wonderful – but my hope is that some of those people, who were in good faith opposed to the old plans out of a genuine interest for the beech tree, will see that we’ve been prepared to compromise and will unite around the new proposals.
The Dean of Ripon the Very Revd John Dobson
Hopes that those who are opposed to the plans could be won over by the amended scheme do not appear to have materialised, if measured by the response on social media, where posts by objectors continue to greatly outnumber the voices of approval.
There was a further blow to the cathedral's ambitions on December 9, when Ripon City Council held its full meeting at Holy Trinity Church to enable those for and against the annexe plans to make their feelings known.
After an hour of hearing the views of speaker after speaker on both sides of the argument, councillors rejected the revised annexe proposals by seven votes to one.
Branded as 'cowards' by support group
The elected members, who include two former Royal Engineers and a retired firefighter, were subsequently branded as 'cowards' by Meg Munn of the Cathedral Support Group.
The former Labour MP who represented the Sheffield Heeley constituency for 14 years, was installed as an honorary ecumenical lay canon at the cathedral in January and was involved in setting up the support group this summer.
The group, which has more than 100 members, believes that the annexe, with its much-needed 21st century facilities, could generate an additional £3 million per annum for the regional economy, by attracting 35,000 more visitors a year to Ripon.
Historic England's views
The potential benefits to the city are also highlighted by key consultee Historic England, which has written to North Yorkshire planners to support the cathedral’s revised plans.
The non-departmental public body is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to protect the historic environment and Mike Collins, team leader for development advice, said:
The council should consider the wider public benefits which could accrue from this proposal as well as the need to put Ripon Cathedral onto a sustainable financial footing.
Attendees at the December 9th meeting in Holy Trinity Church
While Historic England supports the planning application on heritage grounds, it added this caveat:
We still have concerns regarding the ability, from the current submitted information, to understand appropriately the impact of the detailed architectural approach and material choice of the proposal.
We therefore request further information, in the form of further realistic architectural representations, to allow definitive advice in this area.
Historic England has requested further 'realistic architectural representation' so it can give definitive advice on the proposed annexe
Save the Trees campaign
Since April 2023, long-term Ripon resident Jenni Holman has collected almost 3,000 signatures on a petition calling on North Yorkshire Council planners to reject the annexe plan and save the trees on Minster Gardens.
The campaigners have consistently stated that they have no objection to the cathedral having the facilities it requires to prosper, but they object to the planned location of the proposed development on a public park.
Responding to Historic England’s submission, a fellow member of the Save the Trees campaign group said:
It beggars belief that a national public body like Historic England should make a judgement as a consultee supporting these plans, where they openly acknowledge that their decision is not a fully informed one, as the submitted plans are lacking the necessary detail.
Their position contrasts sharply with the recently published objections from the Woodland Trust, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Yorkshire Gardens Trust, Ripon City Council and Ripon Civic Society.
Richard Taylor and David Winpenny, co-chairs of the civic society, said in the society's response to the plans:
We have never disagreed with the cathedral’s view that a new annexe on the north side of the cathedral would contribute to the sustainable future of the cathedral and enhance the city of Ripon but the siting in Kirkgate Park/Minster Gardens remains unacceptable.
We contend that, instead, a quality building occupying the stonemasons yard could be successfully designed so as to relate positively to the cathedral and its users. We were hopeful that, having had nearly two years to consider the many objections and to redesign and relocate the proposed annexe, the cathedral authorities would have arrived at an acceptable solution. We are very disappointed that this is not the case.
With the gulf of disagreement between those in favour and opposed to the annexe plans seemingly wider than ever, members of North Yorkshire Council's Skipton and Ripon planning committee face a daunting task when the annexe application finally comes before them for cosideration at a meeting yet to be scheduled in 2025.
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