The Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, has said the creation of a Cathedral Quarter would boost the city’s economy while providing an enhanced setting for the Grade I listed building.

His comments follow the submission of a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council seeking permission for construction of a two-storey standalone annexe on the Minster Gardens site to the north of the cathedral.

If planning consent is granted, the building would include a song school, gift shop, cafe and the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet, providing improved access to the city and the cathedral for disabled people.

The area of Minster Gardens where the proposed new building would be located

To accommodate the development, 11 trees would need to be removed from Minster Gardens and the existing toilet block demolished, along with outbuildings and a wall.

The proposal also includes landscaping of the gardens and improved links to Kirkgate and the Cathedral Car Park.

With these works added to the cost of construction, the new estimate for the project is in excess of £6 million.

Dean John, said:

“Taking down the trees and building in that area will need to be seen in context of this being a major development not only for the cathedral but for the city and the region.

“The development has to serve the needs of people coming to us as worshippers, pilgrims, holidaymakers, day trippers and people who come to concerts.”

He added that the planning application is:

“The culmination of years and years of work; building relationships, looking at all the different possibilities and options.

“It has been a huge job to get to this point but what people are excited about is we have at last found a solution to the age-old problem for the cathedral and city which will enable us to create the cathedral quarter and that is a wonderful prospect.

“Ripon is the cathedral city for entrance to the Dales and the region and these plans enhance not only the cathedral but the city as well, by bringing an increase in visitor numbers.”

With regard to the removal of trees, Dean John, said:

“In mitigation of losing 11 trees we will be planting over 300 trees, some on the site and others on land which is being provided for us.”

On the issue of Minster Road, he said:

“Some people in the city want to close Minster Road while the city council definitely does not. What we are saying is we need to find a way of calming and reducing the traffic so it can become a unified area which will also be safe for pedestrians and can be opened up as a public space to be used and for people to come and go.

“There are many similar areas around the country which work perfectly successfully so while details have to be worked out we are saying there are no plans to close Minster Road.”

Read more:

• Progress made on Ripon flats refurbishment
• Bishop of Ripon bids farewell

City councillors have given their support in principle to Ripon Cathedral’s proposed £6 million standalone development on land to the north of the ancient building.

Members at Monday’s full meeting voted unanimously to support a proposal from leader Cllr Andrew Williams saying the council is in favour of the general principle of the development but is opposed to the closure of Minster Road.

The vote was taken following a presentation of the plans by the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd. John Dobson and Colin Little, chair of the Ripon Cathedral Renewed Steering Group.

Ripon City Council is opposed to the closure of Minster Road as part of the development proposals.

In addition to their presentation, a model showing the planned development was available for councillors to see.

Dean John told the meeting:

“We have had a tremendous year with in excess of 100,000 people visiting the cathedral.”

He said attracting large numbers of visitors was beneficial to the wider Ripon economy, but also highlighted the need for the provision of modern facilities.

Dean John said:

“We have been looking for a solution to give the cathedral what it needs and this includes new toilets, new facilities for the choir, a gift shop larger than the one we currently have, a refectory and more storage space.”

Mr Little said the proposed cloistered two-storey stone building on Minster Gardens would be in keeping with neighbouring buildings in the conservation area and the development would include extensive landscaping that would increase the amount of public open space.

Cllr Williams said:

“We will be looking at the finer detail when the planning application is submitted, but the city council supports the general principle of this development, with the exception of the proposed closure of Minster Road, which we cannot agree with because diverting traffic elsewhere would cause many problems.”

He added:

“The cathedral draws in tens of thousands of visitors a year to Ripon and it should have decent toilets and other facilities to serve their needs.”

Should planning permission be granted, the building would include the city centre’s first Changing Places toilet facility for use by disabled people.

Cllr Pauline McHardy said:

“I am very excited about these plans. Our ancient city with its beautiful cathedral must move forward and the addition of facilities that make it more accessible to disabled people are most welcome.”

Ripon Cathedral is being urged by the city’s heritage watchdog to re-think its £6 million proposal to build on the gardens across the road from the iconic building.

The cathedral has been consulting on plans to erect a two-storey standalone building on parkland adjacent to the Old Courthouse Museum.

The building would include new toilets, a refectory, a gift shop and storage space.

But Ripon Civic Society chair Christopher Hughes told the Stray Ferret:

“We are not convinced that the proposed building is the necessary and only way to achieve the new proposal for a north side development.

“Therefore, we have been unable to give it our support.

“After extensive discussions and a breadth of informed opinion the response has been delivered to the cathedral authorities.”

Ripon Civic Society supports closing Minster Road but opposes the development on Minster Gardens.

Mr Hughes added:

“We agreed that development on the north side of the cathedral is preferable and that we support closure of Minster Road, but Minster Gardens is a significant open space for the city and has always been so.

“We consider that redevelopment of this has not been fully taken into account in the new proposal. Accordingly we strongly encourage re-examination of the stone yard land in cathedral ownership and production of an alternative building design.

“The stone yard is where we contend that a significant part of the cathedral’s accommodation requirements needs to be met.”

The north side proposal was put forward as an alternative to a previous plan for an extension built onto to the south of the cathedral.

Addressing  last month’s meting of Ripon City Council, the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd. John Dobson said it was important to provide 21st century facilities that could serve the needs of parishioners and the growing number of visitors to the ancient building, which is celebrating its 1,350th anniversary this year.

He said:

“I hope that the city council will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in supporting a development that will benefit the Ripon economy by bringing more visitors.

“While coming to enjoy the splendour of the cathedral, they will have the opportunity to visit the many attractions that Ripon has to offer.”

Read more:

• Dean underlines the economic benefit to Ripon of cathedral proposal
• What does the Ripon Cathedral plan entail?

A ‘jumble of traffic lights’ at the four-way junction linking the Morrisons Supermarket site with the Ripon to Harrogate Road, Moorside and Quarry Moor Lane, is causing confusion for motorists that may lead to accidents.

That’s the conclusion of Ripon City Council, which is calling for the numerous sets of lights to be replaced by a single roundabout.

Speaking at the July full meeting of the council, leader Andrew Williams, said:

“We have recently had two serious accidents at this junction and it’s just fortunate that neither of them involved fatalities.

“We have a jumble of traffic lights and lanes at this junction – some for vehicles turning in to Morrisons, some for them turning out and, adding to the confusion, there are also turns for Moorside and Quarry Moor Lane.

“The junction would be a lot safer if it were served by a roundabout.”

Fellow councillors were in agreement and the call to North Yorkshire for the roundabout will go alongside a request for further road re-surfacing in and around Ripon city centre.

Read more:

• Ripon school earns praise from Ofsted
• When will work on play facilities for Ripon’s children be carried out? 

The potholes have gone from Princess Road

North Yorkshire highways bosses have often had a rough ride when it comes to concerns raised by city councillors about potholed roads, but there was praise for them at the council meeting, as members said they were happy with the resurfacing work carried out on St Mary’s Gate, Minster Road and Princess Road.

Councillor Pauline McHardy said:

“A good job was done by the contractor employed by Harrogate Borough Council to resurface Cathedral Car Park and make the spaces wider and North Yorkshire has done a similarly good job with its recent resurfacing work.”

It was, however, agreed that there is still a long way to go before Ripon is rid of its pothole problems.

Cllr Williams, who was elected onto the North Yorkshire authority in May has taken senior officers and Cllr Keane Duncan, the newly appointed executive member for highways and transportation, on guided tours of the city’s uneven streets.

It is hoped that  money can be allocated  in forward budgets for repair and renewal works to be carried out.

Cllr Williams, pointed out:

“We visited a number of problem areas, including the four roads around Market Square, Dallamires Lane and Blossomgate and I explained that the people of Ripon would like to have all of them brought up to the standard of the newly-resurfaced roads that we now have in the city”

One of Ripon’s busiest thoroughfares will be closed daily between 7am and 5pm for six days from Friday, to enable North Yorkshire County Council to carry out repairs and resurfacing works.

Minster Road, which runs past Ripon Cathedral, along with St Mary’s Gate, are part of an inner-city route that many road users take if travelling to Cathedral Primary School,  Aldi, Marks & Spencer food store, and homes on Residence Lane and those accessed off Priest Lane.

Signs, including ones for a diversion route that takes in Allhallowgate, Stonebridgegate, Magdalen’s Road, Rotary Way and the Ripon bypass have been put in place by NYCC.

With the St Mary’s Gate and Minster Road in their present condition, some motorists have been making their own diversionary route to avoid the potholes.

Stewart Readman, used a steel tape measure to emphasise the size of potholes on St Mary’s Gate.

Among them is Ripon resident Stewart Readman, who contacted the Stray Ferret in April to express concern about the state of the city’s roads.

At that time, he said:

“St Mary’s Gate and Minster Road are particularly hazardous and both my daughter and I had to have springs replaced on our cars because of damage caused by the potholes.

“Since then, it’s a route that we have avoided.”

St Mary’s Gate is currently a patchwork of temporarily filled-in potholes.

Read more:

With the road repairs and resurfacing due to start in four days, Mr Readman said this morning:

“I will be keeping a close eye on this work, but there are still many other roads in Ripon that also need to be attended to.”

The repair and resurfacing works will be carried out from the junction of Priest Lane with Allhallowgate and St Mary’s Gate and on Minster Road.

A resident, who lives on St Mary’s Gate, added:

“We’ve waited a long time for this pothole problem to be sorted out and I just hope that they make a good job of resurfacing the road

“Hopefully it will be up to the same standard as the resurfacing work on Cathedral Car Park, where the contractors did a great job.”

Read more:

• Could a pothole machine be the answer to Ripon’s rocky roads?
• Smooth operators earn praise for Ripon car park resurfacing work

City councillors have expressed concerns about a lack of consultation over Ripon Cathedral’s plans to erect a two-storey building next to the Courthouse Museum.

Re-elected and newly-elected Ripon city councillors, at their first full meeting since the May 5 local elections, said they have not been formally invited to see or be briefed about the £6m scheme.

The scheme has been brought forward as an alternative to the initial plans for an extension to the south side of the iconic building.

The new proposals, involving a standalone multi-purpose building including a cafe, toilets, gift shop and space for the cathedral’s choristers, are currently on display in the quire area, as part of a community consultation.

On May 24, the Stray Ferret reported that a model and exhibition panels focusing on proposals to develop the site to the north of the cathedral, were on display in the north transept.

The exhibition was temporarily removed from this location to make room for the cathedral’s platinum jubilee celebrations, which included the civic service for North Yorkshire and a timeline tea party for people born in each year of the Queen’s reign.

An architect’s design of the two-storey building.

Independent council leader Andrew Williams said:

“I’m afraid that sticking a model and plans at the far end of the cathedral, is not, in my opinion, the best way of seeking comment on proposals as important as these are.

“As the city’s elected representatives it is imperative that we as a body are fully briefed and have the opportunity to make our views known, but up to this point, we have not been engaged in the consultation process.”

Plans for a £6million extension to the south side of Ripon Cathedral’s west-facing frontage are on hold and alternative proposals have been put on public display.

The Ripon Cathedral Renewed Project, which aims to provide 21st century facilities for the cathedral’s parishioners, choristers, the wider community and an ever-increasing number of visitors, already has £4 million in pledges.

But it needs to secure a further £2 million if ambitions are to be achieved.

Signs at the exhibition, being held in the north transept, explain that the alternative plan has been brought forward after reservations were expressed about the previously proposed extension

The new plan, captured in this artist’s impression, involves creating new indoor and outdoor space.

Proposals involve a standalone two-storey development to the north of the iconic building on an area of land that also houses the Old Courthouse Museum and the Royal British Legion Garden of Remembrance.

Proposal to close Minster Road to through traffic

They also include the suggested closure of Minster Road to through traffic, to provide a safe link for pedestrians and people in wheelchairs or families with prams and buggies, to move between the cathedral and the new building.

The proposal includes the provision of pedestrian-friendly links between the cathedral and the new building and into the Cathedral Car Park.

The community consultation aims to gauge views on the design of the new building, landscaping of the site and the Minster Road proposal.

Approval required at every level

A message from the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd. John Dobson, thanks donors who have already pledged support to the Ripon Renewed Project and adds that the bid to make the vision a reality is ‘nearer than ever before.’

He points out that in addition to obtaining further financial pledges:

“We need plans that will attract approval at every level.”

The wooden model on display shows the new two-storey building to the right and its relationship to the cathedral.

---

The new building would incorporate indoor toilets, including a Changing Places toilet for disabled  people, a café/refreshment area, improved shop, meeting room, new facilities for the choir school and additional storage capacity to take the pressure off use of space in the cathedral.

---

A national treasure

When the Ripon Renewed project that was announced Dean John, said:

“It is clear that the development of the cathedral is vital to bring this national treasure into the 21st century.

“As custodians of this fantastic building we are only too aware of the legacy we uphold. We have this ancient history, this wonderful architecture – what we haven’t got are the facilities that people need.

“Each generation has, over 13 centuries, taken on what has been handed to it and made its own contributions. We take none of this for granted and we have a responsibility, in our generation, to make our contribution now.”

The site for the proposed new building, is to the right of the Old Courthouse Museum and adjacent to the Royal British Legion Garden of Remembrance

---

Serving future communities

He added:

“Over the last few years it has become increasingly obvious to a growing number of people that the development of Ripon Cathedral is vital as we seek to serve the communities of the region now and in the future.”

The community consultation will help to shape a formal planning application that will be submitted to Harrogate Borough Council and people who go to view the plans, are asked by Dean John to fill out a short questionnaire available at the exhibition.

If successful, plans would see the first major development in hundreds of years of the cathedral’s facilities, for a building containing the oldest built fabric of any English cathedral –  St Wilfrid’s Crypt – dating back to 672 AD.

---

Read more:

• Successful launch of Ripon’s 1350 celebrations 
• Internationally-famous artist on the route from Rome to Ripon

---