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26
Feb
The long road to refurbishment for Ripon's fire and police station
On Monday (March 3) Ripon's newly-refurbished fire and police station will be officially opened by David Skaith, the Labour Mayor of York and North Yorkshire.
The £1.1 million project which provides enhanced facilities for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and North Yorkshire Police, has been a long time in the making.
It comes more than 10 years after Julia Mulligan, the county's first-elected Police, Fire and Crime Commisioner, announced that the city's former police station on North Street was being sold to a property company for a retirement homes development.
At the time when the conditional sale was announced for an undisclosed sum in October 2014, she said:
I need to make sure that North Yorkshire Police has facilities that are fit-for-purpose for the future, which means disposing of some sites and moving some facilities to new premises that are better suited to our needs.
The decision to dispose of the land and buildings at North Street has been in place for some time as part of our long-term estates strategy, so I am very pleased that we have signed this contract and can progress according to plan.
It was ancipated that the police officers and other staff based at North Street, would relocate to new premises in Ripon within 18 months, but this did not happen until 2018 when they moved in to the fire station premises on Stonebridgegate.
Julia Mulligan, the former Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire.
The site was subsequently deemed 'not fit-for-purpose' by North Yorkshire Police and In summer 2021, Philip Allott, who succeeded fellow Conservative Ms Mulligan as Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner, unveiled ambitious plans for a new combined, 'modular police and fire station' in Ripon costing £1,162,000.
He said:
It is the first of its kind in North Yorkshire and it is envisaged that it will be finished within the next 14-months, although as commissioner I would like that to be within 12-months.
However, following investigations on the Stonebridgegate site which, identified ground stability issues, the modular scheme did not go ahead and an alternative plan was adopted involving an extensive refurbishment of the fire station building.
This was announced by Zoe Metcalfe, North Yorkshire's third consecutive Conservative Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner, who was elected in a by-election in November 2021 following Mr Allott's resignation after he made remarks about the murder of Sarah Everard.
Philip Allott, former North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, who had plans for a modular station
Refurbishment works began in February 2023 and Ms Metcalfe, said:
As commissioner, I have listened to the community and staff and want to create a safe environment for the fire and police services to work from, (that) is fit for the future.
Zoe Metcalfe was in post as North Yorkshire's third Police, Crime and Fire Comisisoner when the refurbishment work at the Ripon Fire Station began.
While Conservative commissioners played a role in the fire station refurbishment project, Labour's Jo Coles, who is York and North Yorkshire's Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, will be present on Monday for the cutting of the ribbon.
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