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18
Mar
Council leader visits Ripon after city largely overlooked for road upgrades
North Yorkshire Council’s leader Carl Les visited Ripon last weekend in response to concerns about the state of roads.
Councillor Les visited Dallamires Lane and other parts of the city alongside Ripon city councillors Jackie Crozier and Andrew Williams.
Cllr Williams is also a North Yorkshire councillor, who sits alongside Cllr Les on the controlling Conservative and Independents group.
Ripon received £630,000 to upgrade the roads and paving around the market square in a two-phase development in late 2024 and early 2025.
But many roads have deteriorated since then and just £96,500 of the council’s £62.7 million highways budget for 2026/27 — the equivalent of 0.15% — has been allocated to schemes in Ripon. Last year’s budget totalled £60.8 million.
Carl Les and Jackie Crozier assessing potholes on Ripon's Dallamires Lane
Of the £96,500, a total of £65,000 is due to be spent resurfacing the footway on Red Hills Road.
Another £21,000 will be spent on Alma Gardens and a further £5,200 has been earmarked for schemes on Ailcey Road and Saxon Road.
More will be spent resurfacing Underlands Road in Melmerby than the entire sum for Ripon.
Asked if he could offer any hope to Riponians about improvements to Dallamires Lane or any other routes in the city, Cllr Les said:
I was pleased to accept the invitation from the councillors to see some of their highways issues. It confirmed to me what we know from across the country that this winter of persistent rain has caused considerable damage to the surfaces of many roads and to the substructures as well. I’m grateful for the extra funding the government has provided for road maintenance, and we will need every penny.
Cllr Crozier wrote on her Facebook page that she and Cllr Williams were “listening to residents — and we also live and drive here ourselves”.
She added:
There may not be a magic money pot, but we are working as hard as we can to push these issues up the agenda and make the case for Ripon. Works for 2026/27 have largely already been allocated, but we will keep pressing for improvements wherever possible.
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