The organisation fighting to save Ripon’s military heritage from being bulldozed has said it is “hugely disappointed” about updated plans for the 1,300-home Clotherholme housing scheme.

Government agencies Homes England and the Defence infrastructure Organisation provided the update in a planning report published on North Yorkshire Council’s website last week.

The homes will be built at the barracks site which contains internationally significant military structures, including huts constructed in 1939 when Neville Chamberlain’s government prepared for war with Germany and training bridges that influenced global warfare.

The demolition training bridge. Pic: Ripon Military Heritage Trust

The report pledged to “work with the Ripon Military Heritage Trust on a heritage strategy which will balance the urgent need for new homes for local people with a strategy for preserving and recording the unique history and heritage of the barracks”.

But the trust, which has launched a website as part of a campaign to preserve key aspects of the site, fears the agencies have shown little desire to co-operate since Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission in February last year and their pledges remain vague and opaque.

Trust chairman Guy Wilson said:

“We are hugely disappointed that after 15 months of engagement with Homes England, the current outline planning application lacks any provision for the preservation of even a single example of the rare and unique huts at Deverell Barracks.

“Neither has any land been allocated to allow for the relocation and re-use of these heritage assets. Both were specific requests that the Harrogate Borough Council planning committee called for in February 2023.

“It has sadly become apparent that none of the parties to this development has any real interest in preserving the heritage of the site and none has made any attempt to work constructively with us. All they are interested in is appearing to do enough to get their present plans passed without alteration, in which case the result will be that significant heritage assets will be lost and this we very much regret.”

The planning update said the housing scheme will preserve the main military roads and names as well as provide information signs.

How the site will look. Pic: Homes England

It also talks about “exploring ways to integrate a walking tour, virtual tour or to develop other forms of public exhibition at the site”.

One of the conditions of planning consent was to allocate £100,000 to the trust to conduct a feasibility study on preserving and retaining some of the existing military buildings on the site. But progress since then has been limited.

Mr Wilson said:

“Unfortunately, we are sceptical about their commitment to developing a feasibility study, as after 15 months of engagement with Homes England there has been no proper engagement with the real issues involved in preserving the heritage.

“During that period work has begun on producing an options appraisal; all the proposals put forward by the trust have been ignored and they have refused to allow the process to be based on a clear understanding of the assets’ heritage significance.”

He added:

“Where is the commitment to assess significance? Where is the list of assets to be preserved? Where is the agreement to transfer ownership of assets required? Where is the commitment to allocate the necessary land to relocate assets? Where is the commitment to build into the development timescale the reality of fund-raising?

“Instead of work on these crucial issues we have been stonewalled at every turn by all parties. Their heritage strategy is aimed at ticking boxes and getting approvals not at preserving the heritage.”

Read more:

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A scheme to build 1,300 homes on historic army barracks in Ripon looks set to be approved next week.

Harrogate Borough Council officers have recommended its planning committee gives the scheme the go-ahead when it meets on Thursday.

If councillors vote to accept the recommendation, it will see Ripon’s population increase by almost 20%, with an estimated 3,000 people expected to occupy the new homes.

Building work is likely to continue until 2035 and 30% of homes would be deemed ‘affordable’.

The 85 hectare-scheme would also include a new primary school and sports pitches as well as shops, restaurants and offices that could support up to 678 jobs.

However, there are concern about the impact on health services, the road network and the loss of key sites of military history.

The report to councillors concludes:

“The proposed development will deliver a range of significant public benefits that demonstrate compliance with adopted policies and the aspirations of the Ripon Neighbourhood Plan.”

Payments for health and schools

Applicants the Secretary of State for Defence and Homes England, a non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England, which are behind the proposal, have agreed to pay a minimum of £907,267 for health care facilities as part of a section 106 agreement developers pay to fund infrastructure costs associated with their schemes.

The agreement would also see the developers pay £2.7 million for primary school education and £1.9 million for secondary school education.

A two-form primary school with a playing field would be built on the site.

A computer generated image of the proposed Ripon barracks site.

Development would take place on the sites of Claro Barracks, Laver Banks and Deverell Barracks, which played key roles in the First and Second World Wars.

The report acknowledges “strong concerns” over the demolition of Deverell Barracks, which according to the non-departmental public body Historic England contains buildings that make it ‘one of the best surviving WWII temporary standardised prefabricated sites’.

The report says the developers would ‘explore retention of these structures’ but adds there are ‘significant issues with their re-use’ due to the presence of asbestos and concludes there is no ‘certainty of retention’.

Part of the current site

The significance of two military bridges on Laver Banks became apparent recently following research by Ripon Military Heritage Group and the report says the applicants have “confirmed a commitment to keep on working together” with the group.

The report says the highways authority, North Yorkshire County Council, “considers there is no defensible reason to refuse the application on highway or transportation grounds” in the wake of proposed highways changes.

Read more:

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