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29
Apr
The organisation fighting to save Ripon's military heritage from being bulldozed has said it is "hugely disappointed" about updated plans for the 1,300-home Clotherholme housing scheme.
Government agencies Homes England and the Defence infrastructure Organisation provided the update in a planning report published on North Yorkshire Council’s website last week.
The homes will be built at the barracks site which contains internationally significant military structures, including huts constructed in 1939 when Neville Chamberlain's government prepared for war with Germany and training bridges that influenced global warfare.
The demolition training bridge. Pic: Ripon Military Heritage Trust
The report pledged to "work with the Ripon Military Heritage Trust on a heritage strategy which will balance the urgent need for new homes for local people with a strategy for preserving and recording the unique history and heritage of the barracks".
But the trust, which has launched a website as part of a campaign to preserve key aspects of the site, fears the agencies have shown little desire to co-operate since Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission in February last year and their pledges remain vague and opaque.
Trust chairman Guy Wilson said:
The planning update said the housing scheme will preserve the main military roads and names as well as provide information signs.
How the site will look. Pic: Homes England
It also talks about "exploring ways to integrate a walking tour, virtual tour or to develop other forms of public exhibition at the site".
One of the conditions of planning consent was to allocate £100,000 to the trust to conduct a feasibility study on preserving and retaining some of the existing military buildings on the site. But progress since then has been limited.
Mr Wilson said:
He added:
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