Lidl has declined to give an update on its plans for a Ripon supermarket — more than 18 months after it received planning permission.
The German retailer was given the go-ahead to build a supermarket alongside M&S Food at St Michael’s Retail Park in September 2021.
At the time Lidl said it would create up to 40 jobs and occupy three units at the £10m Rotary Way site, which opened in 2020.
But there have been no updates since, prompting the Stray Ferret to ask the company this week if it still planned to proceed with the scheme and, if so, when work would start.
The company has so far declined to respond.
Lidl submitted its Ripon planning application in May 2021 following a virtual consultation.
Since then Harrogate’s first Lidl has opened at the former Lookers car dealership on Knaresborough Road.
There is also a Lidl on Chain Lane in Knaresborough.
Ripon Grammar School has been rated ‘good’ in its first Ofsted inspection for 11 years.
Government inspectors widely praised the 919-pupil school, and assessed its personal development and sixth form provision as ‘outstanding’.
But its overall ‘good’ grade is a notch down on the ‘outstanding’ it received in 2012.
Inspectors visited on January 25 and 26 and again on March 3. Their report has been sent to the school and is expected to be uploaded on the Ofsted website next week.
The report said leaders are ambitious for pupils and students “achieve very highly in their GCSE and A level examinations”. It added:
“Across the school, and particularly in the sixth form, teachers challenge pupils and students to stretch themselves academically and to take risks in their learning.
“Pupils benefit from the broad range of provision offered by clubs and societies, for example, in science, the arts, humanities and sport. Pupils are eager to seize the extensive opportunities presented to them.”
The report added the majority of pupils are happy and behave very well and staff deal with rare examples of bullying effectively.
It said support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities has been strengthened recently but “teaching and wider strategies used to support pupils with SEND vary across the school”.
Two other areas requiring improvement were highlighted.
The report said “a very small minority of staff do not speak to pupils in an appropriately encouraging manner” and recommends “leaders should continue to ensure that all staff are crystal clear about the responsibility on them to always speak appropriately to all pupils”.
It also said behaviour policy “is not always consistently applied” and “behaviour is weaker in a small minority of classrooms, particularly where a substitute teacher is leading the lesson”.
A letter to parents signed by headteacher Jonathan Webb and chair of governors Elizabeth Jarvis, said:
“Overall, we are pleased with the headline conclusions that RGS is a school which offers students a culture of high expectations, an ambitious curriculum, high academic achievement, strong teaching, outstanding opportunities for personal development and strong community-based relations, as well as effective and secure safeguarding.
“The report identifies some areas for improvement – ensuring all students, whatever their abilities, talents and skills, are nurtured and supported to do their very best. This includes high quality SEN support, positive encouragement and behaviour expectations which are consistent and high.
“The governors and leadership team are committed to continuous improvement and development, adapting to demands and challenges of modern life.”
Ripon man given community order for making indecent images of children
A Ripon man received a community order yesterday for making indecent images of children.
Dilan Anwar, 20, pleaded guilty to two charges of making indecent photographs of a child at a hearing at Harrogate Magistrates Court in March.
Both offences were in June 2021 when officers seized devices from his bedroom, including an iPhone, where a category B image and 12 category C images were found.
The prosecution told the court in March that the images were of females aged between 10 and 17.
Brian Nuttney, mitigating for Anwar, said the 20-year-old felt remorse for his actions and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
Anwar, of North Road, Ripon, appeared before York Magistrates Court yesterday for sentencing.
He was handed a 12-month community order requiring him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
The 20-year-old was also ordered to undergo a rehabilitation programme for 34 days and made to pay a victim surcharge of £95 and court costs of £85.
He was also placed on the sex offenders register for five years.
The magistrates court said Anwar’s early guilty plea was taken into consideration for his sentence.
Ripon YMCA’s sleep out puts homelessness in the spotlightThe issue of homelessness and the hard times that go with it will be in focus on Friday night when Ripon YMCA holds its Sleep Easy event at the city’s Workhouse Museum.
Staff from the YMCA, along with volunteers, will be sleeping outside in the grounds of the former workhouse on Allhallowgate to raise awareness of youth homelessness, while raising money to support the charity’s work with young and vulnerable people.
Jayne Shackleton, community and development manager for Ripon YMCA, said:
“In the past year we have seen young people staying in cars, sleeping on a kitchen floor and in a shed, with many more ‘sofa surfing’.
“Homelessness is often hidden in society and small communities such as Ripon, where young people who have no fixed home will often find themselves sleeping at a friend’s house on a sofa or the floor.”
Ms Shackleton, pointed out:
“We provide housing for 22 young people and help enable them to be free from danger, hunger and isolation. We provide individual support, skills and training to help them lead an independent life and reach their potential.”
All fundraising or donations from the Sleep Easy event will go directly to Ripon YMCA to support its work.
Figures for England and Wales provided by the YMCA, show that 47% of youth homelessness is caused through family breakdown.
A total of 278,110 people were declared homeless or threatened with homelessness in 2021 and of these 56,080 were aged 16 to 24,
Anybody who would like to support Ripon YMCA, can find out more here
Donations to the Sleep Easy event can be made via JustGiving here.
Newby Hall plans solar panel scheme to generate renewable energy
Newby Hall Estate near Ripon has tabled plans for a solar panel scheme to help generate renewable energy.
In proposals submitted to North Yorkshire Council, the estate has earmarked arable land outside the historic park and gardens for the project.
It would see four rows of solar panels installed which would generate 142,145kW hours per annum.
The estate estimates that the scheme could save 28.5 tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
In documents submitted to the council, Carter Jonas, which is acting on behalf of Newby Hall, said the proposal was designed to complement the estate’s existing hydroelectric scheme in the River Ure.
It said:
“The proposed solar scheme is designed so that when the hydroelectric scheme isn’t generating as much energy in the summer, the solar panels will provide an additional renewable supply.
“During summer, the water levels in the river typically reduced, meaning sometimes the hydro scheme does not run at all – this season is when the demand for the visitor attraction peaks and therefore the generation profile from solar will complement the hydroelectric scheme.”
North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.
Birds’ nest causes freak fire in Green Hammerton
Firefighters were called to Green Hammerton shortly after 8am this morning after a birds’ nest caused a freak fire.
According to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log, the nest fell down the chimney of a boiler, which then caught fire when it was lit.
Firefighters used water to extinguish the fire, which was confined to the base of the boiler.
Crews also “gave advice to staff on site”, the incident log added.
It did not say precisely where the incident took place or whether any birds were harmed.
Today also saw firefighters extinguish a small fire in woodland in Ripon at 3.10pm. The fire is believed to have been caused deliberately by youths.
Ripon’s new city-wide bus service launches with guaranteed funding
Ripon’s new city-wide bus service, which launched today, has guaranteed funding for the next four years and the prospect of more to follow.
From today, the current Ripon services – RS1 Lark Lane, RS2 Lead Lane and RS3 Gallows Lane – will increase in frequency and see routes extended, as well as operating on Saturdays.
A new route, numbered RS4, will serve North Bridge.
Andrew Williams, Independent city council leader and the North Yorkshire Council member for Minster and Moorside, told the Stray Ferret:
“We have been able to make this happen with the support of the new unitary authority, in addition to section 106 monies from retail and residential developments in Ripon and money from the city council’s contingency fund.
“Looking beyond the first four years, we will be seeking further section 106 contributions to support the service as more residential schemes, such as West Lane, come on stream.”
The new service will be run using buses from Dales & District Travel and North Yorkshire Council.
Fellow Independent councillor Peter Horton, who chairs the city council’s transport committee, said:
“Ripon’s residents have been telling us for years that they want an improved inner-city bus service and after a great deal of detailed discussions, first with North Yorkshire County Council and now the new authority, it has come to fruition.
“We hope that people will become regular users of this sustainable means of transport.”
RS1 has a new timetable and route via Bishopton Lane, Ash Bank Road and Lark Lane which extends via the bus station to St Michael’s Retail Park for the M&S Food Store. It will depart hourly from 7.15am to 6.15pm with additional journeys between the bus station and St Michael’s Park twice hourly.
RS2 and RS3 have a new timetable with an earlier bus at 7.40am and a later bus at 5.35pm Monday to Friday. The daytime service has new times and will run Monday to Saturday.
RS4 is a new route from the bus station to North Bridge via North Street returning via Magdalen’s Road. There are three journeys per day Monday to Saturday.
The services will be run with buses from Dales & District Travel and North Yorkshire Council, with a single journey costing no more than £2 and pensioners with bus passes travelling free. More details are available from www.northyorks.gov.uk/businfo
Pic shows: Cllr Andrew Williams (centre) with his daughter Lilly-May, with Cllr Peter Horton (left) and Paul McMillan, one of the team of drivers providing the new service.
Three months of roadworks between Ripon and Harrogate start tomorrow
Three months of nighttime roadworks are scheduled to begin tomorrow on the main road between Ripon and Harrogate.
The A61 will be dug up as part of fibre optics company City Fibre‘s £46 million digital infrastructure upgrade in Harrogate, Knaresborough and Ripon.
Traffic lights are scheduled to be in place until July 13.
Kim Johnston, regional partnership director at City Fibre said:
“Works will take place 7pm to 6.30am, Monday to Friday, with the road returned to two-way traffic every morning.”
A City Fibre spokesperson added “there may be a small amount of weekend work, subject to confirmation with highways”, adding:
“If this is the case, City Fibre will actively avoid any weekend with a major local event like Harrogate Flower Show.”
The entire length of the A61 between Ripon and Harrogate will be affected, including some residential areas.
Asked whether people could expect drilling and other noise at nights, a CityFibre spokesperson said it “working closely with the council and managing disruption as best they can”.
City Fibre is installing next generation full fibre connectivity to almost every home and business in the area.
Ms Johnston added:
“This is a major undertaking, which is why we work closely with our build partner, local authorities and the council’s highways team to manage disruption as best we can and ensure works are delivered quickly, and always to our high standards.”
A consortium led by Farmison & Co founder John Pallagi has submitted a bid to bring back the firm.
The premium online meat retailer ceased trading nine days ago and went into administration with the loss of 75 jobs.
But Mr Pallagi said he and two “high profile Yorkshire businessmen” made an offer last night to administrator FRP to buy the business and its assets.
He said the offer, if accepted, would revive Farmison and provide jobs for 50 staff.
Mr Pallagi said the consortium believed in the business model and recognised the value of the firm to Ripon. He added:
“Farmison is very important to Ripon and I am thrilled that we have attracted the interest of high profile Yorkshire businessmen with proven track records.
“It’s great that we’ve got to this point but we are not there yet.”
FRP said on Wednesday it planned to begin the sale of assets. It will now assess the bid before deciding whether to accept it.
Mr Pallagi said he hoped to have an answer by midday Monday so Farmison could operate again as quickly as possible and “create the best level of continuity possible”.
Not only have jobs been lost, but the supply chain has also been interrupted.
Last year Mr Pallagi sold the award-winning firm, whose customers include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, to Scottish private investors Inverleith LLP.
Mr Pallagi remained as chief executive and a new three-year business plan was agreed.
FRP’s statement on Wednesday outlined the issues that brought down the award-winning company after the takeover. It said:
“The business recently underwent a fundraising process to secure external investment to support its business plan but did not secure a sufficient level of interest.
“Following a period of significant operational investment, the business has not generated the required level of revenues to sustain its high cost base.”
Ripon car dealership to close after Fiat restructure
A Ripon car dealership is set to close its doors at the end of the month after the manufacturer decided to pull out of the city.
Piccadilly Motors will close its branch in Dallamires Lane on Friday, April 28 after receiving notice that Fiat was ending its franchise agreement.
Customers have been invited to use the company’s sister site on Boroughbridge Road, Knaresborough, which will continue to trade as a Kia dealership as well as offering serving for Fiat, Abarth and Alfa cars.
The Knaresborough branch is less than 10 miles away from Ripon, and the Piccadilly team said it has introduced extra support for customers travelling from the Ripon area, including more courtesy cars.
Managing director Simon Watts told the Stray Ferret:
“We have managed this carefully and because of the growth of the business we have in Knaresborough, most customers have already migrated to the Kia product and we’re also doing Fiat for servicing at Knaresborough, as well as MOTs.
“It’s the same with staff. We’ve really handled that in the most sympathetic manner we could. Fortunately, only one person will lose their job, who doesn’t want to travel, but they’ve managed to get another job elsewhere.
“It has been an absolute priority for us to handle it in the most customer- and colleague-friendly manner.”
Mr Watts said the company had looked to find another manufacturer to bring to its Ripon branch, but in a challenging market it had not been possible.
Demand for used cars is high in the UK, leading to low supply for dealerships. The looming prospect of changing legislation over sales of petrol and diesel cars is also having an impact, as manufacturers work to deliver more electric vehicles in time for the 2030 cut-off.
Fiat has only been selling the 500 model, Mr Watts said, and the low volume of sales had led it to restructure its network. He added:
“It’s disappointing, but thankfully we’ve got a business in close proximity that can carry on providing a service.”