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18
Apr 2021
Last Updated: 16/04/2021
Stray Views: Don't sell Ripon Spa Baths!
A reader urges Harrogate Borough Council not to sell Ripon Spa Baths. We also publish responses to last week's letter expressing fears the Stray could become an 'uncontrolled beer garden' if businesses were allowed to use it.
Letters
Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.
Don't sell Ripon Spa Baths
Ripon Spa Baths, which was built in 1905 and is the last of its kind to be opened in England, is a Grade II listed property. Its distinctive building has great character.
It should not be sold off to make space for housing but needs to be kept as a community centre to benefit the citizens of Ripon. I would feel the same if it was suggested that the Royal Baths in Harrogate were to be torn down to provide a housing development.
Reading recent news on the Stray Ferret, it is obvious that some troublesome youths in Ripon need somewhere to meet and use their energy. Indoor health facilities are badly needed, whether it be a pool, gym, climbing walls or bowling alleys.
Think again Harrogate Borough Council and come up with a better idea for the people of Ripon which makes good use of the building that is there already.
Audrey Culling, Nidderdale
Let people and businesses enjoy the Stray!
With reference to Barry Adams' letter about turning the Stray into an 'uncontrolled beer garden'.
As a reminder of the past year, we have endured a pretty significant event in our history. Living through a pandemic, through lockdown and (understandably) having limited travel enforcements, it's been a pretty torrid time. The proposal, which I understand was knocked back by the Duchy of Lancaster, provided a way of establishing some level of normality and relief.
I'm always amazed when people want to prevent the enjoyment of others. Our town is gifted with a huge piece of land, yet some people feel it's their place to make sure others can't make full use of it. Grass grows back; we learned this from the after events of the UCI Cycling Championship. You'd never know it took place.
I think it's a shame that the Duchy didn't let these proposals go ahead. It would have been an uplift for the town. The Stray needs to be considered an area for common enjoyment, not some kind of area to be looked at from a distance or at speed. It's great to see folk of all ages using the Stray for whatever sort of celebration. If there was ever a good time to make full use of the Stray, it's now.
Stu Mitchell, Pannal Ash
Never a better time than now to open up the Stray
The Stray IS for the people's benefit, surely? We need to be outdoors as much as possible. The alternative? Little space outdoors means more people indoors = more possibility of infection rates going up.
There was never a better reason for opening the Stray than for such a purpose, in my view.
Has this person not heard of the many events held on the Stray where people buy drinks, and food?
Please, Harrogate, let the people use this tiny slither of the Stray for their health, if nothing else.
Teresa Liddell Shepherd, Harrogate
Recycling rules
I queued to get into the Wetherby Road recycling depot with a fridge in a trailer. No trailers were allowed but I managed to get rid of it anyway.
Maybe I have just fallen foul of a rule which has been in for a while but I wonder how the council expects people to get rid of bulky items, which won't go in a small car or are too dirty, eg too many clippings for the fortnightly green bin collection or too wet and leafy to decently burn and would have gone into the large recycling skips.
Trivial but infuriating.
Pete Dennis, Harrogate
Got an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.
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