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23
May
Ripon eyesore redevelopment set for rejection
A planning application to redevelop a site in Ripon that has been derelict for almost two decades looks set to be rejected.
The former Express petrol station and convenience store on Skellbank has been fenced off and unused since 2008.
Ripon City Council has long called for action to smarten up the site, which is just 300 metres south-west of the city centre and in Ripon Conservation Area.
The Stray Ferret reported its call for action in 2022, with one councillor even suggesting the site be compulsory purchased to speed up action.
But North Yorkshire Council has recommended plans to demolish the area and build six flats in a four-storey building be rejected by councillors when they meet on June 2.
Ripon City Council said during consultation it “strongly supports” the application.
But case officer Mike Parkes has recommended that the seven councillors on the Skipton and Ripon area planning committee reject the scheme.
Mr Parkes’ report said a proposed four-vehicle parking space in an open undercroft “is a form of development that is not sympathetic to the surrounding built environment of the conservation area”.
He also said the eaves height of the proposed building exceeds that of the neighbouring listed building, the application “lacks detail” and that overall “the harm caused to the designated heritage assets of the Ripon Conservation Area and the adjacent listed building outweighs the normal benefit of providing housing accommodation”.
Mr Parkes said:
The absence of any appropriate gypsum report and ground stability declaration form is also in the circumstance of an unsupportable application a further refusal reason.
The application has been revised since it originally featured seven apartments in a flat roofed structure.
Most planning applications are determined by individual council officers rather than the council’s Skipton and Ripon area planning committee.
Case officer Mike Parkes said in his report to councillors this one has been referred to them “because the application raises significant planning issues”.
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