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01
Feb 2021
Last Updated: 01/02/2021
Ripon gets sneak peek of 'magic roundabouts' idea
Ripon City Council hopes seasonal lights will lift the covid gloom for local people and provide a post-pandemic boost for traders by attracting more visitors.
People in Ripon are being given an early taste of how illuminated trees could help to attract more visitors to the city.
Ripon City Council announced plans last week to create five lit-up 'magic roundabouts' on the bypass.
The lights could turn red on Valentine’s Day, green on St Patrick’s Day and red, white and blue for national celebrations, such as the Queen’s birthday.
Roundabouts on the stretch of bypass from the McDonald’s restaurant on Harrogate Road to the junction with Dishforth Road have been targeted for the scheme.
With this in mind, the council has kept festive lights from Christmas in place at two locations on Bedern Bank.
Trees on one of the roundabouts, which is a key gateway to Ripon Cathedral, are lit with white lights.
Nearby, a tree outside Ripon Community Hospital has golden lights in it.
The seasonal lighting is similar to that which illuminates trees along sections of Harrogate's Stray.
Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams told the Stray Ferret:
"This is a way of making Ripon more attractive for residents at this rather gloomy time.
"As the vaccination programme continues and the covid lockdown eventually lifts, we hope that lighting, both in the city and along the bypass, will help to attract the visitor and tourist trade that is essential to Ripon's economy."
The city council voted unanimously to support plans which, if approved by highways authority North Yorkshire County Council, will see lighting that can change colour according to the occasion, installed on trees on bypass roundabouts.
The council, which has an underspend available from its 2020-2021 budget, agreed to allocate £10,000 towards the bypass scheme.
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Ripon City Council spent an additional £65,000 on the city’s Christmas lights – diverting money from its events budget to pay for the scheme.
That funding became available because the money could not be spent on a series of community and civic events — such as celebration of the 75th anniversary of VE Day — due to covid.
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