The board of Ripon City Golf Club is looking into the possibility of buying land it currently leases at the Palace Road course, after half of the site was put up for sale.
The land, where nine of the holes at the 18-hole course are located, is owned by the Church Commissioners.
It is being marketed by property agents Savills, which described the land as:
“Part of the Ripon City Golf Club course, strategically positioned on the northern fringe of Ripon and adjacent to Palace Road, sold subject to lease expiring in 2048.”
A guide price of £375,000 has been given for those interested in purchasing the freehold and in response to this, the club board has issued a brief statement, which said:
“The board are actively investigating the possibilities of purchasing the land, further details will be made available to the press in due course.”
Ripon City Golf Club, was founded in 1908, when it had a nine-hole course on the 53.7 acres owned by the Church Commissioners.
The club celebrated its centenary in 2008, 10 years after signing a new 50-year lease for the land, which restricts its use to ‘golf course and ancillary uses associated thereof’.
In the late 1980s, the club purchased adjacent farmland, which enabled the creation of the additional nine holes that made it an 18-hole course.
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The man who owned Harrogate’s last nightclub has spoken of his frustration at trying to operate in the town.
It is now six months since Viper Rooms was re-possessed by landlord North Yorkshire County Council.
It has remained empty since, despite repeated claims by the council of “significant interest from potential tenants”.
Viper Rooms owner Paul Kinsey said he had been in protracted negotiations over a new lease with the council before it re-possessed the building.
Mr Kinsey added he still owned the fixtures and fittings and had continued to negotiate with the council about re-occupying the site.
But a deal has not materialised and his frustration has prompted him to speak out.
The Viper Rooms unit was part of the grade two listed Royal Baths, which the council bought for £9 million in 2018. The baths also includes the former Potting Shed unit, which has been vacant for five years.
Still vacant: the former Potting Shed and Viper Rooms — both part of the Royal Baths.
Their ongoing closure led Mr Kinsey to claim councillors “haven’t got the commercial experience or knowledge” to run large commercial assets and they were making unrealistic demands on tenants.
He said he spent £370,000 refurbishing the club pre-covid and the council was now requesting £150,000 a year on rent and service charge even though the landscape had changed post-pandemic. He said:
“If they think they can get £150,000, good luck to them. It’s a difficult market. The council grossly overpaid for the Royal Baths without doing proper due diligence. It was a trophy asset.
“I can understand them wanting to get a good deal because of that but they have to get real.”
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‘Crippling overheads’ on Parliament Street
Mr Kinsey, who lives near Wetherby, said he still wanted to have a venue in Harrogate and had his eye on one site.
But he questioned the appeal of the town to leisure operators, adding the main reason he was so keen to return to the Royal Baths was because he owned the fixtures and fittings and had spent so much on refurbishing it pre-covid.
He said many commercial landlords over-estimated the value of Harrogate and pointed to the number of failed ventures on Parliament Street as evidence of “crippling overheads”.
“I don’t think Harrogate is on many people’s target list. You get more bang for your bucks in other places.
“People who don’t know the area believe the streets are paved with gold. There is a good wealth profile but they spend elsewhere — Leeds, London or abroad.
“Look at how many businesses haven’t been able to make it work on Parliament Street. These are good operators, not cowboys, but even they couldn’t make it work.”
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council, which succeeded North Yorkshire County Council on April 1, if it had a response to Mr Kinsey’s claims but it did not issue one.
The Viper Rooms site is being advertised
Asked for an update on the Viper Rooms, which is now being advertised by agents Savills, and the Potting Shed, it said it had nothing to add to its last statement two months ago, when Gary Fielding, the council’s corporate director for strategic resources, said:
“A unit which did house the Viper Rooms is continuing to attract significant interest, and an agent has been appointed to co-ordinate discussions with potential tenants.
“A lease has been signed for the final unit and a dialogue with the tenant is continuing to establish when the new venture will be launched.”
The council’s £9 million spending on the Royal Baths also included the JD Wetherspoon pub and the Royal Baths Chinese Restaurant.
Ripon’s Studley Royal House goes on market — for £8 millionOne of the most spectacular properties in the Harrogate district has gone on the market for £8 million.
Studley Royal House is situated in the National Trust-owned Studley Royal deer park, with views across the park and beyond to Ripon Cathedral.
The park, which extends to about 800 acres, was modelled by Capability Brown and is part of the only UNESCO world heritage site in Yorkshire.
The house is in the deer park. Pic: Savills
Located close to Fountains Abbey, the grade two listed house has eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms and six reception rooms. The main bedroom has two en-suite bathrooms.
The house was originally the stables for the Aislabie family’s mansion on the Studley Royal estate. It was occupied by Queen Ethelburga’s College during the war.
The dining room. Pic: Savills
Crispin Holborow, of agents Savills, said:
“Studley Royal is a beautiful Palladian country house which lives up to its grade II* classification.
“It sits within a World Heritage site, giving it complete protection as well as the opportunity to enjoy Studley Royal Park without the burden of management.
“It is the perfect house for entertaining and requires minimum looking after.”
The drawing room. Pic: Savills
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Bid to convert Windsor House into 94 flats
Plans have been submitted to change the use of Windsor House in Harrogate from offices to flats.
Under the plans, the seven-storey building would accommodate 94 flats consisting of 14 one-bedroom and 80 two-bedroom properties.
Windsor House, which is located in the Duchy estate area, is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Harrogate.
Built in 1900 overlooking Valley Gardens, it was originally the Grand Hotel until it became offices in the 1980s.
Now agents Savills, acting on behalf of Boultbee Brooks (Harrogate), the limited liability partnership that owns the 3.5 acre site, has applied to Harrogate Borough Council to change its use again.
The site, off Cornwall Road, falls within Harrogate Conservation Area and many of the trees in its boundary are protected by this or by tree preservation orders.
The site contains car park spaces for 288 vehicles.
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Most of nearby Windsor Court has been converted from offices to flats in recent years.
A letter by Savills accompanying the planning application says:
“The location of the site is extremely sustainable, being within walking distance of all public transport options
and all of Harrogate’s main services and amenities.”