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13
Nov 2024
Key decision made on future of Ripon's Quarry Moor activities centre
The proposed demolition of the activities centre at Quarry Moor in Ripon has been put on hold following calls to save the building.
At Monday night's full city council meeting, Councillor Julie Ann Martin-Long, who chairs the Alderman T. F. Spence (Quarry Moor) Committee, which has responsibility for the site, said:
The committee holds the view that although neglected, the structure is salvageable and far from being at the point of dereliction.
Demolition and clearing of the site would cost in the region of £12,000 and that money would go a long way towards refurbishment of the building.
The committee believes that it is still a necessary facility at Quarry Moor and future uses could see it as a hub for volunteer groups, a base for youth and adult outdoor education and as a venue for hire by local organisations.
The majority of members agreed with Cllr Martin-Long and supported her call for refurbishment rather than demolition.
This reverses a decision taken by the city council in June 2023, in which councillors voted in favour of a proposal to obtain 'further quotes to facilitate the demolotion of the hut as soon as practicably possible.'
City council leader Andrew Williams, who believes that the building is beyond redemption, put forward a proposal that would see it demolished as part of a wider plan for Quarry Moor drawn up by specialist consultants, but his proposal was defeated,
More detailed plans for the management of Quarry Moor, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and includes a nature reserve, will be discussed at the next meeting of the Alderman T. F. Spence Committee in Ripon Town Hall on Monday November 25.
The meeting, which is open to the public, starts at 6pm.
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