Six electric vehicle charging points are now in operation at the North Yorkshire Council controlled Cathedral Car Park in Ripon.

They add to a number of other locations across the city where drivers can re-charge their batteries. They include Blossomgate Car Park, Booth’s Supermarket at Marshall Way Retail Park, the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Dallamires Lane, M & S Food at Rotary Way, Morrisons Supermarket on Harrogate Road and Phoenix Business Centre at Low Mill Road.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive agreed a new county-wide strategy for electric charging points this year.

The strategy showed there are almost 4,000 electric vehicles registered in North Yorkshire but just 225 publicly available charge points.

It is forecast that 3,161 charge points need to be installed and just under half of these need to be funded by the public sector at a cost of approximately £10.3 million. It is expected that at least half of the publicly funded chargers (724) will need to be ready by 2025 to meet demand.

The council has secured £3.2 million from the national Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme to install 150 charging points across the county.

They are being installed alongside battery storage units, charged by solar panels.

The Harrogate district community is set to come together this weekend to help hungry families struggling with the cost of living crisis.

People are being encouraged to fill a parking space with food at Morrisons, Boroughbridge, which will then be donated to food banks in the area.

The event, which will take place from 10am – 4pm on Saturday, is being led by the supermarket’s community champions, Sue Robson and Karen Cooper.

Ms Cooper said:

“As you are aware, the current financial climate is beginning to affect many local families and further putting already vulnerable households at risk of going hungry. Now, more than ever, people are needing to utilise the services of food banks.

We are joining forces with local food banks to create an event which hopefully should create awareness, and ultimately, provide more food for families in need.

“We hope this event will help to inspire our community to begin, or continue, to donate to local food banks, should they be in the position to do so.”

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Customers, staff, and the wider community are encouraged to come and donate non-perishable food and place it in an empty parking space, which will be cordoned off on the day.

The idea is that the parking space, or spaces, will be filled and then distributed to food banks in the area. These include Resurrected Bites, in Harrogate and Knaresborough, Boroughbridge Community Care and other local causes.

Customers can purchase food from pre-made pick-up packs at the supermarket, or can bring their own from home. They can also buy items off the shelves.

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.

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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”

Ripon Together has unveiled its FunFest programme of free summer activities and events for the city’s children and young people.

It is working in partnership with Ripon Business Improvement District on the initiative.

Details about the activities, ranging from river dipping in the River Skell to an exhibition wheelchair rugby match at Ripon Grammar School, can be found by clicking here.

The programme, which runs from Saturday August 6 until Thursday August 18, is inclusive and open to people of all abilities at venues with good accessibility.

Simon Hewitt, of Ripon Together, told the Stray Ferret:

“We have built on what we learned from running the post-covid lockdown Summer of Fun 2021 and focused on events that proved popular last year, while adding new activities.”

Ripon Spa Croquet Club, whose lawns are located at Studley Royal Cricket Club (pictured below) is offering the opportunity for young people to try their hand at the sport and child-sized mallets will be available.

The huge natural amphitheatre with its clubhouse, is the principal FunFest venue for events and activities on August 15, 16 and 18, including junior cricket and athletics coaching, an inflatable obstacle course, air rifle shooting and archery and a free hog roast and ice cream, supported by Morrisons supermarket.

Steve Harris, a trustee at the cricket club, said:

“We are very pleased to work alongside Ripon Together, Ripon BID and croquet club members, to support these community activities, which will benefit children and their families.”

The FunFest programme starts on Saturday August 6, with Friends of Hell Wath running forest schools at the nature reserve, funded by the Skell Valley Project.

There will also be a drumming workshop and family groups are invited to see what they can discover about doing some river dipping.

Swimming, climbing and Lego

Ripon Disability Forum in liaison with GB Wheelchair Rugby, has organised and exhibition match between Featherstone’s Yorkshire Lions and County Durham’s North East Bulls at Ripon Grammar School on August 13.

The school on Clotherholme Road will also be offering accessible swimming, a climbing wall and giant board games on that day while, in the city centre, Ripon Library will be the venue for a bicycle MOT, Lego event and sports and information roadshow.

David Ingham of Ripon Together said:

“We hope that as many children, young people and families as possible come to enjoy the free activities and we have made arrangements with YorBus for them to provide free travel to venues.

“This service can be accessed via the YorBus app and bookings for participation in the various activities that we have arranged can be made via the Ripon Together website.”

Read more:

• Sink or swim tales from the riverbank in Ripon
• Dean calls for council’s support for Ripon Cathedral development plan