Will the crucial role of Ripon’s Royal Engineers in the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy be lost in the sands of time?
As the 80th anniversary of this key event in world history fast approaches and features in media coverage across the globe, Ripon Military Heritage Trust is facing a battle with the bulldozers on the home front.
The Ripon barracks site, which is due to be vacated by 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers in two years to make way for the 1,300-home Clotherholme development, is a time capsule that helps to tell the story of world war and cold war invention, ingenuity and innovation.
The area uniquely links priceless relics of the 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 conflicts that are of major historical importance.
Heritage assets currently located there include extremely rare accommodation huts built in 1939, along with bridges and structures, such as a concrete weir constructed on the River Laver to turn the turbines of a power station serving a huge World War One army camp.
The battle cry of Ripon Military Heritage Trust can be seen in a banner hanging high above High Skellgate
In the wake of the Japanese aerial bombardment of the USA fleet at Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the Americans came to Ripon to learn from the Royal Engineers how to deal with unexploded ordnance.
It was a Trans-Atlantic training arrangement and helping-hand from across the sea, that emphasised the growing ‘special relationship’ between the two countries.
Ripon was also the base where allied military personnel from the USA, Canada and Europe, were trained in the methods of installing Bailey Bridges.
Ripon’s role recognised by top military figures
The importance of this then revolutionary, new bridging system was highlighted in a letter to the Royal Engineers from Field-Marshal Montgomery who wrote:
Planning update
Last week, the government agencies Homes England and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation provided an update on the Clotherholme proposals in a planning report published on North Yorkshire Council’s website.
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”.
The trust’s continuing concerns
But the trust, which has launched a website as part of a campaign to preserve key aspects of the site, believes 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
Trust display
Trustees Michael and Jane Furse of Ripon Military Heritage Trust, showed Major Daryl Murphy, the second-in-command of Ripon’s Royal Engineers the newly-created display.
Trustee Michael Furse told the Stray Ferret:
“The city has a rich and deep military history and has enjoyed a long and close relationship with the Royal Engineers.
“We and many Ripon residents strongly believe that the important heritage assets at the barracks site are worth fighting for.”
Main image: Field-Marshal Montgomery recognised the important role that Ripon’s Royal Engineers played in the installation of Bailey Bridges, such as this one in Italy. Picture Wikipedia
Read more:
- The countdown is on for Ripon’s D-Day anniversary event
- Rallying call from Ripon Military Heritage Trust
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:
- Tank will be on the Ripon Inn lawn for launch of D-Day anniversary celebrations
- New details of Ripon’s 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme released
New details of Ripon’s 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme released
Work on the 1,300-home Clotherholme scheme in Ripon is expected to begin next year and last until 2037, according to a newly published update.
Land at Claro Barracks, Deverell Barracks and Laver Banks will be bulldozed to make way for the homes, a primary school and a neighbourhood centre with shops, a café and a community space.
Four city-centre junctions will be improved and Clotherholme Road, Kirkby Road, College Road and Trinity Lane will be redesigned to prioritise pedestrian safety and encourage cycling.
Homes England, the public body that funds new affordable housing, and the Defence infrastructure Organisation, which is part of the Ministry of Defence, provided the update in a planning report published on North Yorkshire Council’s website.
Councillors granted planning permission subject to conditions in February last year, shortly before Harrogate Borough Council was abolished. Six councillors voted in favour and six voted against, which meant the committee chair’s casting vote in favour proved decisive.
The new planning report says the barracks scheme will create an “exemplar new sustainable community” on brownfield land on the edge of Ripon. Here are some of the key details.
The red section indicates where will be affected.
30% affordable homes and new school
Clotherholme will include 1,300 homes, 30% of which will be classed as affordable. The report said:
“That’s 370 new affordable homes for local people, split between affordable rent and shared ownership
“We’ll also build a new primary school next to a new local neighbourhood centre with shops, a café, employment and training facilities and community space. We’ll provide new improved open space at Laver Banks which will be accessible to the whole community.”
A total of 5% of the site will be dedicated to custom build homes providing up to 60 extra care / assisted living homes.
Developers are obliged to pay to mitigate for the impact of their development on local infrastructure through legally binding contracts negotiated with councils known as section 106 agreements.
The new planning report says the proposals for financial contributions include:
- £2.7m towards a two-form entry primary school, which will be built at the neighbourhood centre in the middle of Clotherholme.
- £1.9m towards the expansion of local secondary education.
- £1.07 million towards improved healthcare buildings and facilities in Ripon.
The report adds:
“We’ll provide traffic-free routes to school across the whole development, which connect into existing walking and cycling routes, and we’ll make sure the school has playing fields too.
“The school will be built and opened early in the development timeline, meaning that families moving to Clotherholme will have school places for their children, and other local schools won’t be put under pressure.”
Major transport schemes in Ripon
The report says there will be “24 separate improvements to the road network agreed with North Yorkshire Council to make sure that Ripon keeps moving”.
They include improvements to four city-centre junctions “before the first home is occupied at Clotherholme”.
The four junction improvements are:
- Traffic flow improvements at the clocktower junction
- Traffic flow improvements at Coltsgate Hill junctions on North Street
- Signalling improvement at Skellgate junction
- Priority changes at Westgate Street/ Blossomgate
The report adds:
“We will install state-of-the-art signal control as part of these upgrades which allow real-time monitoring of traffic build-up and management of the signals to reduce congestion and maximise traffic flow.
“Our proposals also include the provision of a one-way scheme at Kirkby Road (westbound), College Road (eastbound) and Trinity Lane (southbound). Blossomgate, east of Marshall Way, will also become one-way.”
The report says there will be £793,000 towards delivering a phased bus service for Clotherholme over a four-year period, adding:
“We will redesign Clotherholme Road, Kirkby Road, College Road and Trinity Lane to prioritise pedestrian safety and encourage cycling, and we will introduce traffic-calming measures to reduce vehicle speeds. Our package of transport and active travel proposals have already been agreed in principle with North Yorkshire Council.”
12-year timeline
The report says the Ministry of Defence “has confirmed that they are in the process of agreeing a transfer of the land at Ripon barracks to Homes England”, adding:
“Following transfer, the land will be redeveloped by Homes England and partners in phases commencing with Deverell Barracks and moving to Claro and Laver Banks once the army has fully vacated to ensure the growth of a sustainable community.
Indicative phasing plan Indicative phasing Phase 1 2025 – 2029 Phase 2 2028 – 2033 Phase 3 2027 Phase 3 2027 Phase 4 2027 – 2028 Phase 5 2027 and 2029 Phase 6 2028 – 2033 Phase 7 2030 – 2032 Phase 8 2031 – 2037 Phase 9 2029 – 2033 The phasing plan on page 15 shows the order in which we’re intending to develop parcels of land at Ripon Barracks.
A developer partner will be appointed in 2025 and between 50 and 100 homes per year will be built meaning that the full redevelopment will take around 13 to 14 years to complete.
“There will be a series of key milestones throughout redevelopment including the opening up of Laver Banks for public use in 2027, phased provision of the local centre between 2028 and 2033 as well as the new primary school which is due to open in 2028.”
Green space
The report says nearly 50% of Clotherholme will be public green space, which is the equivalent to about 55 football pitches. Of this 39.6 hectares, nearly 7.5 hectares will be playing fields.
The report says Homes England and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation are writing a biodiversity net gain delivery plan “which sets out our approach to habitat preservation and creation of on-site and off-site biodiversity to achieve a target of 10% net gain”.
It adds:
“We will be providing playing fields at the new primary school which could be available for community use too. We’ll separately provide 11 sports pitches as part of Laver Banks improved open space (including a senior and junior football pitch and club house), and are looking to collaborate with local clubs to make sure we’re providing what is needed.
“We will also be paying towards the upkeep of these facilities — all part of the site-wide stewardship strategy we’re producing. We will also provide financial contributions towards the off-site provision of rugby, cricket, hockey and 3G sports pitches, for the benefit of sport in Ripon.”
Read more:
- Plans approved for 1,300 homes at Ripon Barracks
- Ripon primary school named as one of the most diverse in North Yorkshire
- BT answers Ripon Civic Society’s call to repair historic city centre telephone kiosks