Knaresborough and Ripon picked to advance double devolution bidsKnaresborough Town Council and Ripon City Council have been picked to advance double devolution bids, which will see them take control of some local assets.
North Yorkshire Council invited town and parish councils to submit expressions of interest to run local services in November last year.
It was part of the Conservative-controlled council’s double devolution agenda which pledges to let local people take control of local assets.
In total, 12 expressions of interest were submitted to the council. Of these, three were from the Harrogate district.
The authority has now confirmed it will move forward bids from Knaresborough and Ripon, but Little Ouseburn’s proposal was rejected.
David Chance, executive councillor for corporate services at the council, said:
“Town and parish councils are integral to our county’s vibrant communities, alongside community groups, and we recognise their understanding of the needs, opportunities and strengths within their communities.
“That’s why we are looking at this pilot scheme, working initially with selected town and parish councils, enabling us to progress cautiously, learning from the experience and developing best practice.
“These proposed pilots are just the start of the process, and the hope is that more will be introduced throughout North Yorkshire in the future.”
Ripon City Council bid to control assets including the market place.
Knaresborough Town Council’s application to manage the town’s markets, storage facility and associated assets such as road closure signs will be progressed to a full business case.
Meanwhile, the council will consider a project team to work with Ripon City Council on its bid as it was deemed “particularly ambitious”.
It included management of Ripon Town Hall, Market Place and Car Park, public toilets within the city and the Wakeman’s House listed building.
However, the council rejected to take a bid from Little Ouseburn Parish Council further. It included management of the grass cutting of the green area outside Broomfield Cottages.
Senior councillors will consider recommendations at an executive meeting on October 17.
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Ripon timber yard to be demolished for 13 homesPlans to build 13 homes on a former Ripon timber yard have been approved.
Red Tree Developments tabled proposals to demolish the buildings on the former NY Timber site off Trinity Lane and replace them with houses.
The site was home to a timber yard from 1860 to 2018.
The plans would see 13 two-storey, two- and three-bedroom homes built.
North Yorkshire Council has approved the proposal.
It comes as a government planning inspector rejected a similar plan by Red Tree last month over concerns that the scheme did not have sufficient ground investigations and about the impact on nearby heritage assets.
However, in documents submitted to North Yorkshire Council in May, the developer says the new application addresses the reasons given for refusing the previous plan.
The developer said:
“The 13 proposed dwellings are all designed as two-storey dwellings, mostly with rooms in the roof and will have no adverse visual impact upon views from any angle in the area. The scale of the proposed dwellings is entirely appropriate within the context.”
Red Tree bought the 0.64-acre plot, which is adjacent to the listed buildings, Holy Trinity Church of England Junior School and St Wilfrid’s Catholic Church, from Cairngorm Capital for an undisclosed sum in 2020.
In a previous planning application, the developer said the timber yard, which is not listed, must be replaced due to its “poor state of repair”.
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Long-standing Ripon eyesore finally tidied
The site of a former Ripon petrol station and convenience store that has been derelict for decades, has been tidied up 11 months after city councillors called for enforcement action.
The defunct Express petrol station on Skellbank, which has been empty for more than 20 years, is located on the tourist route to Fountains Abbey and diagonally across the road from Hugh Ripley Hall — named in honour of Ripon’s first mayor.
In early 2021 Harrogate Borough Council planning enforcement officers instructed the owner to tidy the site, cut back vegetation and leave it in an acceptable manner prior to any further development.
Last November, Ripon councillors called for further action to smarten up the area, which remained in an overgrown state.
The overgrown site pictured in November 2022.
At a full city council meeting last November, Cllr Stuart Flatley’s request for the now abolished Harrogate Borough Council to serve a Section 215 enforcement notice on the site owner was unanimously supported, after he said:
“This area is on the route to the Fountains Abbey world heritage site and has been in this unacceptable condition for many years and we can’t let this continue.”
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Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 gives local planning authorities the power to take steps requiring land be tidied up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area.
If it appears that the amenity of part of their area is being adversely affected by the condition of neighbouring land and buildings, they may serve a notice on the owner requiring the situation be remedied.
Ripon housing scheme withdrawn after highways objectionPlans to build 14 homes at Athelstan Court in Ripon have been withdrawn after North Yorkshire Council’s highways department objected.
Athelstan Court was originally part of Ripon College before being rented to HM Inland Revenue and used as offices until the organisation moved out in 2009. It was last occupied in 2013.
Harrogate Borough Council accepted a change of use application for the conversion of the main building into 16 flats this year.
Ripon-based Atzaro Box Clever Ltd hoped to develop an additional part of the former site into a mix of three and four-bedroom properties, with 30 per cent being classed as affordable.
Access to the homes was proposed from Kearsley Road, which joins the A6018 Palace Road.
However, North Yorkshire Council’s highways department said the roads within the site would not be suitable for development so the scheme should be refused.
It said:
“The roads within the site are, due to their poor alignments, poor junctions and lack of appropriate footways/lighting/turning area, considered unsuitable by the local highways authority and therefore refuse the application in its current form.”
The council said a number of amendments would need to be made including changing the placement of several properties to reduce speeds on site, introducing a crossing point and relocating visitor parking.
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Ripon businesses given free help to be more disability-friendlyRipon Disability Forum is arranging free training for local businesses, voluntary organisations and councils aimed at making the city more accessible.
The training, at Community House on Allhallowgate, is being provided by disability consultants Nimbus Disability. It will take place from 9.30am to 2pm on October 26.
Nimbus created The Access Card, which is an ID card for disabled people that indicates what their legal rights might be and gives businesses an indication of the support they need to provide.
RDF trustee Jeremy Dunford, who is a wheelchair user, said:
“The Purple Pound, which refers to the spending power of people with a disability, is estimated to be worth £274 billion per year to the UK economy, so it is in the interests of businesses to ensure that their premises are as accessible as possible for those with limited mobility.
“However, it’s not just about clients and customers, it’s is also about employment opportunities, information sharing/presentation and technology.
“It is also about developing the best accessible practise by overcoming barriers that can be overcome and sharing open information when a barrier cannot be overcome for example, when it is not possible to provide ramped access to a listed building.”
With 25 places available at Community House, the training is being offered on a first come, first served basis to businesses or organisations that operate in, or serve Ripon and its surrounding area. Attendance via Zoom can also be arranged.
Bookings should be made via ripondisabilityforum@gmail.com or the forum’s facebook page.
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Ripon leisure centre work halted after ground movement detectedA £3.5 million scheme to stabilise the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has been halted because of new suspected land movement.
Groundwork began in June following the discovery of a “void” beneath the former leisure centre building in the sinkhole-prone area.
Members have had to use a temporary gym in the car park and attend group classes at Hugh Ripley Hall in the city centre while remediation work takes place at the old building.
The new building, which includes a swimming pool, sauna and steam room has remained open.
The new building on the site remains open.
Work was due to finish in spring next year but the latest discovery may jeopardise that — and spark fresh questions about the wisdom of choosing the site and continuing to spend money stabilising the land despite sinkhole fears.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if work had been halted after noticing a lack of activity in recent weeks.
Jo Ireland, the council’s assistant director for culture and leisure, said:
“Our contractors have temporarily paused groundworks at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre as a precautionary measure while they investigate and assess signs of movement that have appeared in the internal blockwork of the existing building.
“A specialist engineer has advised the movement is predominantly aesthetic with no grounds for concern over the safety of the building.
“We will be installing a monitoring system on site in the next few days to detect any further movement that may occur. This system will give us the data we need to allow us to restart work later this month.
“We would only need to pause work again should the monitoring system detect additional significant movement, at which point further assessment of the situation would take place.”
‘Throwing good money after bad’
In October last year Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who also represents Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council, said it was time to stop “throwing good money after bad” and and “look for a suitable location for a new leisure centre to be built on sound land”.
He accused the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council, which took the decision to build on the site, of “blindly and belligerently pouring money into propping up a centre that is nearly 30 years old and there is no guarantee that more funding won’t be needed after remediation works begin”.
Cllr Williams added:
“These works would take the total spending on this project to £18 million – some £8 million above the original budget – and they can’t continue ploughing money into this site, with its known history of ground stability issues, including a sinkhole that opened up on the leisure centre car park in 2018.”
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Ripon on track to be chosen for double devolution dealRipon City Council has cleared an important hurdle in its double devolution bid to take control of city assets.
North Yorkshire Council invited town and parish councils to submit expressions of interest to run local services in November last year.
It was part of the Conservative-controlled council’s double devolution agenda which pledges to let local people take control of local assets.
The council said it would choose up to six locations this autumn to put forward full business cases. Final decisions are expected in spring next year before assets are transferred to successful bidders later in the year.
This afternoon Ripon City Council was notified by council assistant chief executive Rachel Joyce the evaluation board proposed to to set up individual project teams to work with Ripon and Selby.
The news is likely to come as a blow for other towns, including Knaresborough, which also expressed interest. Harrogate was unable to bid because it does not have a town council.
Ms Joyce said in correspondence with the city council:
“Two expressions of interest that were considered, submitted by Ripon Town(City) Council and Selby Town Council; were both ambitious and multi-faceted, with a number of service areas involved in the evaluation of their expressions of interest.”
Ripon Town Hall
The Ripon devolution bid sought management of Ripon Town Hall, Market Place and Car Park, public toilets within the city and the Wakeman’s House listed building.
Ms Joyce said:
“Whilst the bids were considered to be showing the level of ambition for their areas that was originally envisaged for the double devolution project they highlighted that the evaluation criteria was not sophisticated enough to manage a wide range of services within its scoring mechanisms.
“It is therefore proposed by the evaluation board that individual project teams are set up to work with Ripon City Council and Selby Town Council to bring forward double devolution proposals to be considered by the executive in these two areas recognising that these may require more support.”
The news has been welcomed by Cllr Andrew Williams, the Independent leader of Ripon City Council, who also represents the Minster and Moorside division on North Yorkshire Council.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“We have cleared an important hurdle and that’s very good news for Ripon as we seek greater say over our own destiny.
“We put forward a very strong double devolution bid and North Yorkshire Council has shown that it is willing to listen to us and work with us — in considerable contrast to the relationship that we had over almost 50 years with Harrogate Borough Council.”
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Police locate wanted Ripon manNorth Yorkshire Police has found a wanted Ripon man who went missing.
The 23-year-old was released on licence on May 19 this year but the Probation Service has since reported “poor behaviour”.
North Yorkshire Police released a wanted appeal on Friday, but have since located the suspect.
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Ripon’s South Lodge to reopen tomorrowOne of Ripon’s largest and most prominent pubs will reopen under new management tomorrow afternoon (Saturday), following its sudden closure in April.
The South Lodge doors will be open again from 4pm and at 9pm there will be free live music.
Ahead of the pub’s reopening, the Stray Ferret was invited for a sneak peek and the opportunity to meet new licensee Terry Flanagan and his daughter Sinead, to find out about plans for the Harrogate Road hostelry.
The pub’s wonky sign will be fixed shortly
Mr Flanagan, told the Stray Ferret:
“The minute I saw this pub was available, I just knew I had to have it. It’s in a great residential location and has bags of potential.”
With experience built over almost 30 years in the hospitality sector across Yorkshire, beginning in the mid 1990s when he was landlord of the Queen’s Head in Kirkby Malzeard, he added:
“I go on my gut instincts and could see that South Lodge has all of the ingredients needed for success.
“My aim is to put it right back at the heart of the community, welcoming families with children during the daytime and catering for adults in the evenings, with free musical entertainment at weekends, Thursday quiz nights and pool nights on Wednesdays.”
Ms Flanagan, also an experienced publican, is providing administrative support for the South Lodge reopening.
Sinead Flanagan
She said:
“The food offer, including Sunday carvery, will be up and running by the end of the month and we also have plans for the Christmas period.”
Re-decoration is nearing completion and the pub, which stands in its own grounds and has a beer garden, will have its sign fixed shortly.
South Lodge is located by the busy A61 on the route of the 36 bus service between Ripon and Harrogate.
Further information is available via the pub’s Facebook page.
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Police identify man after Ripon restaurant attempted burglaryPolice have identified a man they wish to speak to in connection with an attempted burglary at a Ripon restaurant.
The incident happened at Prima Pizzeria on Kirkgate at 11.55pm on Friday, August 18.
Officers said a man tried to gain entry to the rear of the restaurant.
North Yorkshire Police released a CCTV image in connection with the incident and have since identified a man.
A police statement added:
“Anyone with any information is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2, and ask for the ‘York Initial Enquiry Team’ quoting 12230155915.
“If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
“Please quote reference number 12230155915 when passing on information.”
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