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Mar 2021
Ripon's Quarry Moor play area to be upgraded for summer
One of Ripon's favourite play areas is to be refurbished in time for summer.
New equipment will be installed in Quarry Moor park, funded by the 2021-2022 parish precept.
The park, just off the A61 on the southern approach to Ripon, was donated to the city in 1945 by Alderman Thomas Fowler Spence.
It currently includes an activities centre for children as well as outdoor play equipment.
Ripon City Council leader, councillor Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret:
The land, which includes woodland walks, was left in trust by the former mayor on the understanding that it would be:
The 24-acre site was a limestone quarry for hundreds of years until the 1950s. It was also used for military training during the Second World War.
In 1986, after extensive conservation work by volunteers, it was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The area includes species-rich calcareous grassland and a protected wildflower meadow.
A woodland path was added in 2019.
Ripon prides itself on being child-friendly and for many years the city council has supported free family events.
These include the St Wilfrid's Day procession in August, the switch-on of Christmas lights and New Year's Eve entertainment on Market Square.
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The coronavirus crisis and social distancing requirements, in place since last March, caused the cancellation of mass participation activities.
For the upcoming financial year, £100,000 is being allocated for public events from summer onwards.
It is hoped that covid will be under sufficient control to allow them to go ahead.
Ripon's parish precept for 2021-2022 will generate £400,000. Council taxpayers in the city will pay £70 towards it, in addition to council tax paid to North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council.
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