Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
12
Jun
Hut demolition to herald start of Quarry Moor regeneration
A hut built in 1982 is set to be demolished as part of plans to regenerate Quarry Moor in Ripon.
Quarry Moor is a 19-acre nature reserve on the site of an old limestone quarry alongside the A61.
It was donated to the people of Ripon by Alderman Thomas F Spence in 1945 and was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986 because of its rich biodiversity, which includes calcareous grassland and Thistle Broomrape.
The site is freely open to the public but does not host organised activities, largely because of the state of the hut.
There are now plans to replace the current decrepit structure with a new building, which could then be used by schoolchildren, community groups and people with mental health issues to explore the nature-rich landscape.
The hut
Ripon City Council is the sole corporate trustee of Quarry Moor, but the site is managed by a separate committee consisting of six city councillors and six members of the public.
Julieann Martin-Long, who chairs the committee, said:
We would like Quarry Moor to become a destination again with a visitor centre. It is a special place. When I was a child, it was a jewel in Ripon’s crown and it has so much potential.
Ms Martin-Long said the site would tie in with recent initiatives, including North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith’s Natural Health Service for North Yorkshire, to use the natural landscape to help people live healthier lives.
There is free parking and it is next to a 36 bus stop.
Julieann Martin-Long and Tony Duncan
But the committee’s plans to encourage more people to visit Quarry Moor rely heavily on a building.
The current hut has been closed for 12 years and is now deemed to be beyond repair.
The committee has now convinced the city council that it needs to be replaced.
“Without that, nothing can happen,” said Tony Duncan, deputy chair of the committee. “Over the next 12 to 18 months we are looking to revamp the site and bring it back to its former glory.”
0