The playground at Ripon’s Quarry Moor Park is to close following repeated vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
Ripon City Council agreed the measure at an extraordinary meeting last night.
An arson attack this month became the latest in a long list of damage and destruction wrought by vandals at the park.
Edward Brandie, who lives close to the site, told councillors:
“I called the fire brigade after seeing youths deliberately setting fire to an area of woodland and fortunately, the firefighters came quickly and put it out, otherwise It could have been disastrous.”
Last night’s meeting was held to enable councillors to agree actions required to address ongoing concerns about vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the playground.
Members of the public at last night’s meeting.
It was attended by members of the public, who heard councillors approve a radical plan involving the closure of the the playground, removal of the hut on site and development of a longer-term programme of improvements for the park.
All playground equipment and broken fencing is to be removed and trees and bushes trimmed back with the aim of creating an enlarged open picnic and recreation area, that can be safely used by families and other people who visit the site for legitimate reasons.
City councillors voted unanimously for the measures after Cllr Julie Ann Martin-Long, chair of the Alderman Spence Quarry Moor Trust Committee, said she and deputy chair Cllr Tony Duncan had been regularly monitoring the park and appalled at what they had seen.
Cllr Martin-Long said:
“In addition to graffiti on the play equipment that is lewd, crude and racist, the equipment has been vandalised and is no longer safe for children to use.
“Fences have been broken down, signs damaged and dens created on the site by youths. We have also had a problem of rats on the site because of discarded rubbish.”
City council leader Andrew Williams said he believed an area of the site was being used as a drop-off point for people handing over ‘substances’. His recommendation that the gate to the site car park be locked at 5pm each day from October onward, to prevent vehicular access, was agreed.
Councillors also agreed to a proposal by Cllr Barbara Brodigan, for Ripon residents to be invited to attend a public meeting later this year to discuss longer-term improvement plans for Quarry Moor Park.
Cllr Martin-Long said:
“We have been working closely with the police and taking their advice on how to tackle the issues we are facing. There’s no quick fix, but this area used to be one of Ripon’s crowing glories and we want to get it back to that once more.”
An extraordinary meeting of Ripon City Council will be held this evening (Monday) to ‘consider the urgent matters on the site at Quarry Moor and to agree appropriate action.’
The children’s playground at the park has been closed since March after being attacked by vandals. It has suffered vandalism and anti-social behaviour on a regular basis.
The meeting, which starts at 7pm, will be held in the council chamber at Ripon Town Hall and is open to the public, who can question, seek clarification, or make
representation to members of the council.
On June 12, councillors attending a full council voted for the playground to remain closed for the foreseeable future.
The extraordinary meeting will be held in the council chamber at Ripon Town Hall.
The decision was taken in private session and confirmed in a statement on the council’s Facebook page, which said that the council:
“regretfully resolved not to reinstate the playground at Quarry Moor at the present time”.
It added:
“Unfortunately the site is being vandalised almost daily. We are working with North Yorkshire Police who are responding to the regular reports of anti-social behaviour when they occur.
“Until we can plan a way forward with our partners that includes measures that impact on the behaviour at the site we are unable to commit funds to the playground.
“We appreciate that this is caused by a small minority and that it is affecting our residents using the site. We are actively seeking solutions to the issue (and) will provide a further update as soon as possible.”
Quarry Moor is funded with an annual grant from the city council and the budget for 2023-24 financial year is £15,000.
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