Sharow Lane, a main route from the village into Ripon, will close for three weeks from next week.
According to North Yorkshire Council’s roadworks map, the road closure will be in place “all the time” during the three-week period, as Northern Gas Networks carries out a “gas main replacement”.
The firm told the Stray Ferret the work is to “ensure a safe and reliable supply of gas to customers”.
A spokesperson added:
“Four-way temporary traffic lights are currently in place on the junction of North Road/River View Road/Magdalens Road and will be in situ until the end of next week (week commencing April 8).
“A road closure will be implemented on Sharow Lane for three weeks from Monday April 8 and a diversion route will be clearly signed.”
Sharow Lane
Northern Gas Networks also said for the duration of the road closure, traffic will be diverted through Ripon city centre, along North Street, North Road and Bondgate Green.
Mark Mawhood, operations manager for the company, added:
“We would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused during these essential works. However, it is vital we complete them in order to continue to maintain a safe and reliable gas supply to the residents of Ripon.
“We want to assure residents and road users that we will be working hard to complete this essential scheme as safely and as quickly as possible.”
The work will last from Monday, April 8, until Friday, April 26.
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Firefighters rescue boy trapped in railings in Ripon
Firefighters were called to help a boy whose leg got trapped in railings at Ripon Market Place.
On-call firefighters from the city were summoned to the incident at 8.31am yesterday.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident report did not say how the boy managed to get stuck.
It added firefighters “released the boy unharmed using hydraulic spreaders”.
Ripon firefighters were back in action at 2.05pm when they responded to reports of a hedge on fire on Dishforth Road in Sharow,
The incident report said:
“Crews extinguished the fire measuring 5m x 5m using one hose reel jet. The cause was accidental.”
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Sharow road closed yet again
For the second time in 14 weeks, a section of Dishforth Road/Sharow Lane between the Ripon bypass roundabout and the traffic calming island on the approach to St John’s Church, was closed this morning following a burst water main.
Yorkshire Water and its contractor have been working at the scene, which is close to the location of the previous burst main that forced the closure of the same section of road from August 7 to 11.
More recently, the road in Sharownwas hit by flooding on November 14 caused by Storm Debi and back in December/January, there was three weeks of major traffic disruption when Yorkshire Water replaced a ruptured pipe at the sewage pumping station on Dishforth Road. This work involved the felling of a tree and a round the clock convoy of tankers removing sewage from the site and taking it by road to the sewage treatment works off Boroughbridge Road.
Workers at the scene this morning.
James Thornborough who lives in Sharow, supplied these photos, told the Stray Ferret:
“There has been chaotic scenes during this morning’s rush hour with no advance warning of the diversion route for drivers to take, causing them to have to do three point turns in the road.
“The regularity of major mains failures on this key traffic route, points to the need for a resilient wholesale solution to be put in place.”
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Harrogate housing company says 60-home scheme ‘undeliverable’ due to costs
A Harrogate-based housing developer has warned that a 60-home scheme near Ripon is “undeliverable” because of the terms being imposed.
V & A Homes has planning permission to develop a 6.8-acre site in Back Lane, Sharow (pictured).
But the section 106 agreement agreed between the developer and the local authority setting out planning obligations has proved to be a stumbling block.
The agreement requires 40 percent of the homes to be classed as affordable housing.
Besides this, the section 106 agreement requires V & A Homes to make a number of other financial contributions ranging from supporting education provision and traffic calming measures to funding improvements for Sharow Village Hall.
The site in Sharow earmarked for 60 homes.
Working on behalf of V & A Homes, consultants Continuum have submitted a financial viability assessment to North Yorkshire Council planners, after conducting detailed appraisals relating to the scheme.
The report, which has been uploaded on the North Yorkshire Council planning portal, said:
“Continuum conclude that the scheme cannot support any section 106 contributions (including affordable housing) as required by the current section 106 agreement and the section 106 agreement should be modified in order to allow for the scheme to be deliverable.”
The consultants added:
“The appraisals show that the proposed scheme makes a significant loss if the section 106 agreement’s contributions were not modified. Based on this, if contributions are not reduced, the scheme would be undeliverable.”
The report listed other factors, including increased developer finance rates, rising interest rates, a slowing residential market and ‘abnormal’ costs on site, which have impacted on the viability of the development.
The developer is now seeking to modify the terms of the section 106 agreement.
The report said:
“At the time the application was being considered, our client highlighted that there were issues with the viability of the scheme due to cost inflation and abnormal costs.
“Harrogate council however informed that our client could undertake a viability assessment after receiving a planning consent instead of delaying the granting of a planning consent.
“Subsequently, since the granting of the planning consent, our client has requested that they be able to run a viability case to reduce the section 106 contributions through a section 106 modification. This has been accepted by North Yorkshire Council and this financial viability assessment forms the basis of the evidence behind the modification of the section 106 contributions.”
In November 2022, a planning application for the Sharow development was submitted to Harrogate Borough Council as a joint proposal by V&A and non-profit developer Broadacres Housing Association Limited. The application was approved by North Yorkshire Council planners in April.
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Burst water main causes road closure on Dishforth Road near Ripon
A section of Dishforth Road on Sharow Lane, near the traffic calming island, is closed this morning following a burst water main.
Motorists travelling to and from Ripon and up to the A1, are having to use alternative routes along Berrygate Lane and New Road at Sharow and through Copt Hewick to avoid the blockage while workmen carry out repair work.
A villager told the Stray Ferret:
“The work has been going on since earlier this morning and there is a hole four-feet deep, where the road has collapsed and the pipe burst.
“The collapsed section of road is directly opposite the traffic calming island near the Sharow Village Sports Ground.”
Contractors from Morrison Water Services, working on behalf of Yorkshire Water, are dealing with the burst and the collapse.
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Woman gets trapped up tree after escaping cows near Ripon
Firefighters were called to help a woman last night who got trapped up a tree near Ripon after escaping cows.
The woman climbed the tree “to escape a herd of cows that had surrounded her while walking through a field”, according to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident report.
The female, who has not been named, was with her dog at the time.
The incident report said Ripon firefighters were summoned to Ure Bank Terrace at Sharow at 6.38pm.
It added:
“Crews moved the cows away from the tree allowing the walker and her dog to leave the field uninjured.”
But that wasn’t the end of the firefighters’ mission. The incident report added:
“On returning to the fire engine crews discovered a vehicle that had gone into a ditch whilst turning round.
“Crews assisted in removing the vehicle from the ditch using crew power and vehicle wedges.”
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Best-selling author launches ghost ship novel in Sharow
Kate Mosse, the Sunday Times bestselling author, will launch The Ghost Ship at St John’s Church in Sharow on Monday (July 17).
Her book, described as ‘a sweeping historical story about love in a time of war, a tale of secrets and treachery’ is the third in the trilogy of the Joubert Family Chronicles
Ms Mosse (pictured) who will be giving a talk about her latest work and answering audience questions at the evening event hosted by The Little Ripon Bookshop, said:
“It’s about piracy, revenge, women struggling to survive in a man’s world and also a story of forbidden love.
“Though it’s the final part of the trilogy, it can be read as a stand-alone novel.”
Tickets for the event, which starts at 7pm, cost £20 (including a hardback copy of The Ghost Ship) or £7 for entrance only.
Further details are available here or in The Little Ripon Bookshop.
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Government rejects Sharow pub housing plan
A government planning inspector has rejected a plan to convert the Half Moon Inn at Sharow into a house.
The pub on Sharow Lane opened in 1822 but closed in 2016.
Mark Fitton, owner of the pub, lodged a plan to convert the former pub into a house in March last year.
However, Harrogate Borough Council refused the proposal on the grounds that “insufficient evidence” had been submitted to demonstrate that no community use existed for the property.
Mr Fitton took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, the body that deals with planning disputes.
However, Susan Hunt, a government planning inspector, turned down the plan on the grounds that there was a “reasonable prospect” of the facility continuing on a viable basis.
Ms Hunt said in a decision notice that while a plan by residents group, Half Moon Pup Group’s, to save the facility was in its infancy, it represented a “reasonable prospect” of making the pub viable.
She said:
“Overall whilst the HMPG’s business plan is in its infancy, from what I have seen and heard regarding their intentions I am satisfied that there is a reasonable prospect of the continuation of the existing public house use.”
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Mr Fitton had challenged the council’s decision on the grounds that there was evidence to demonstrate that “no community use exists for this property”.
The decision comes as Harrogate Borough Council upheld a decision to allocate the Half Moon Inn as an asset of community value in February this year.
The council awarded the pub asset of community value status in November 2022 following a campaign by local residents and the parish council to keep the venue open.