Ripon city councillors are determined that proceeds from the sale of Ripon Spa Baths must not go to the soon-to-be-defunct Harrogate Borough Council.
A ‘for sale’ sign remains in place at the baths, a listed building that was once the centrepiece of Ripon’s Edwardian spa quarter.
The baths permanently closed on November 7, four months before the delayed opening of Ripon’s new multi-million pound pool at Dallamires Lane.
The building was put on the market by Harrogate Borough Council after being deemed to be ‘surplus to requirements’.
Ripon councillors are adamant that money from the sale of Spa Baths should not go to Harrogate Borough Council.
Ripon City Council successfully applied for the building to be listed as an asset of community value — which means the community has six months to formulate a bid to buy it.
At the same time, Harrogate Borough Council, which will be abolished in 13 months, has selected an unnamed preferred bidder to take on the building.
The city council has continued to meet with the preferred developer to discuss the site’s future use.
It said the two parties have held ‘constructive discussions’ designed to maintain community use at the site as part of wider redevelopment proposals.
Independent Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams received unanimous support from members at last week’s full council meeting for a proposal to appoint consultants, who will advise the council on progressing the ACV application.
He said:
“The developer has said that they are happy to work in partnership with us and, this being the case, there is no reason why Harrogate Borough Council, which is in its dying embers, should receive any money from sale of the building.
“Ripon did not receive a single penny from Harrogate when it took over Spa Baths and other city assets in 1974 so it’s reasonable to expect the borough council to return the properties at no cost to the city council.”
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The return of assets
Ripon, along with other parish and town councils that became part of the Harrogate district in 1974, have been seeking the transfer back of assets ranging from halls to market squares.
However, a notice of motion to this effect presented at February’s full Harrogate Borough Council meeting by Ripon independent councillor Pauline McHardy was defeated after a stormy debate by the Conservative-controlled authority.
At that meeting, Harrogate Borough Council leader Richard Cooper said the motion “simply isn’t legal’”.
He said that the borough council itself can not produce takeover plans for its own buildings to be run by local councils.
At the meeting, Cllr Cooper expressed doubts about the ability of town and parish councils to manage and operate assets, but added Harrogate Borough Council was:
“Seeking to get better services for residents run from these assets is where we should be focusing.
“If parishes can do it better and put together a delivery plan – great.
“I wish them all well and good luck in managing those services from parish, city and town councils. But what I am seeking to do is make sure they get control of assets and run great services from them legally, quickly and sensibly.”
Bid to convert Kirkby Malzeard pub at centre of long-running campaign
The acrimonious tug of war over the now-derelict former Henry Jenkins Inn in Kirkby Malzeard, has entered a new phase.
David Fielder, who owns the western portion of the building, has submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council to convert it into a single dwelling.
The application, which will be considered by council planners later this year, was considered last night by Kirkby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish Council, which decided to adopt a neutral stance, by neither objecting to, nor supporting the proposal.
Mr Fielder, who attended the meeting, told the Stray Ferret:
“I’m happy with that decision, as it shows that the parish is not opposing the application and I hope that we can move on from here.
“Planning permission is already in place for the eastern annex of the building to be converted to residential use by my business associate Justin Claybourn and I believe it would make sense for HBC to approve my similar application and hopefully bring this saga to an end.”
One of Harrogate district’s oldest pubs
The Henry Jenkins, which is named after a man that legend states lived to be 169-years-old, is one of the oldest inns in the Harrogate district. It closed in 2011.
In 2017 the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group successfully obtained an Asset of Community Value listing for the building.
However, in 2018, the listing on the eastern annex was removed by the council, when the property was sold to Mr Claybourn.
Since then, the campaign group has made three unsuccessful attempts to have the listing reinstated on the eastern portion of the building — which it said was crucial to its plans to reopen the Henry Jenkins as a community facility comprising a pub, bistro and coffee shop.
HJCP chair Richard Sadler said:
“Harrogate Borough Council quite rightly has rigorous policies to protect and enhance community facilities ‘unless it can be clearly demonstrated … there is no reasonable prospect of the existing use continuing on a viable basis with all options for continuance having been reasonably explored’.
“Well in this case there is every chance the Henry Jenkins Inn can be revived and refurbished as a community-owned pub and restaurant. More than 170 villagers have banded together and raised more than £230,000 in pledges and shares and we should now be in a strong position to qualify for another £230,000 in government match funding.”
Read more:
- Saint Wilfrid’s procession to return to Ripon this summer
- Campaign to reopen Henry Jenkins Inn suffers hammer blow
Case for re-opening ‘stronger than ever’
Mr Sadler added that the case for regenerating the 250-year-old Henry Jenkins was stronger now than ever, with the pandemic leading to increased awareness of the importance of places for people to meet up and socialise.
“Here in Kirkby Malzeard, as elsewhere, we have more people working from home, many more new houses are planned and there’s an urgent need for a broader range of facilities.
“A revitalised Henry Jenkins would boost the local economy – providing jobs, encouraging people to go out more in the village and attracting more visitors to the area.
“We already have one pub – the Queen’s Head – but this is one of the largest villages in the area and all the evidence suggests there is room for a different type of pub serving a different clientele.
“We trust that our elected representatives will do the right thing by sticking to their policies and putting the long-term interests of the wider community above those of a private developer looking to make a quick profit.”
The acrimonious struggle over the former Henry Jenkins Inn in Kirkby Malzeard has taken a new twist.
Last week campaigners handed a 500-plus name petition to Harrogate Borough Council calling for part of the closed-down and derelict premises to be re-listed as an asset of community value (ACV).
But now Justin Claybourn has taken the property off the market and informed the Henry Jenkins Community Pub campaign group (HJCP) he will not sell to them ‘at any time or any price’.
Mr Claybourn, whose successful planning appeal in December 2020 gives him permission to create a single dwelling in the part of the building that he owns, is now going to press ahead with plans to convert it to residential use and create a family holiday home.
Campaigners collecting names for their petition in Harrogate.
His business associate and agent David Fielder, who owns the pub group Fielder Holdings, told the Stray Ferret:
“Since 2018 Mr Claybourn has owned the old joiner’s shop, previously known as the eastern annex of the Henry Jenkins.
“The pub closed more than 10 years ago and Mr Claybourn has become increasingly annoyed with the campaign group’s actions, in particular their third attempt to have his property listed as an ACV even after his successful planning appeal.
“He directly holds HJCP responsible for the cost of defending the three ACV applications but further in his opinion the cost of his planning appeal. These costs exceed £25,000.”
Mr Fielder added:
“Over the past 10 years, nobody, including HJCP, has made a bid meeting the criteria that the property was on offer for — i.e. backed by hard cash, not pledges.
“With this in mind, following the latest move by HJCP, my client asked me to formally instruct them that his property has been removed from sale and will not return to the market.
“I was also instructed to advise them that due to their actions and costs they have made Mr Claybourn incur he would never consider a sale of his property at any time or at any price to HJCP.”
Read more:
- December opening date for Ripon’s new swimming pool
- Former Ripon pub to be converted into apartments
Richard Sadler, press spokesman for the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group, said:
“This statement comes as no surprise to us and changes nothing: The only reason the Henry Jenkins has stood empty for the last 10 years is that Mr Fielder — and latterly his associate Mr Claybourn — have refused to sell it to anyone.
“We have submitted to the council statements from three prospective private buyers who wanted to buy and refurbish it as a pub and restaurant — including a Michelin two-star trained chef — but they were told either that the asking price had been vastly inflated or that the pub had been sold.
“The Henry Jenkins Community Pub group has since made five offers to buy the pub at or above the price set by an independent valuer – but all these offers have been refused.”
“Despite this – and despite previous statements by Mr Fielder saying he would never sell the pub to us – we remain open and willing to discuss terms for a purchase of the Henry Jenkins as a community facility.”
Campaign to reopen Henry Jenkins Inn suffers hammer blow
The campaign to reopen the derelict Henry Jenkins Inn in Kirkby Malzeard as a community pub has been dealt a hammer blow.
The Planning inspectorate, a government agency that deals with planning appeals, has overturned Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for conversion of the eastern part of the site into a single dwelling.
The Henry Jenkins Community Pub Ltd sought to prevent redevelopment of the site by having the building registered as an asset of community value.
HJCPL’s 190 members raised £236,000 in pledges, with the intention of purchasing the whole Henry Jenkins site and refurbishing it.
The group was confident the council’s decision would be upheld – but Helen Hockenhull, of the Planning Inspectorate, was not persuaded by their argument.
Nine years after the last pint was pulled in the Henry Jenkins, she concluded:
“There is no reasonable prospect of the public house reopening.”
The Planning Inspectorate highlighted that Kirkby Malzeard already has the Queen’s Head pub.
In making her decision, Ms Hockenhull took into account that Kirkby Malzeard has an existing pub – The Queen’s Head – and also the fact that the Mechanics Institute, across the road from the appeal site, is licensed to sell alcohol.
The campaigners also had to overcome the hurdle that the western portion of the site, belonging to Fielder Holdings, remains available for sale or let.
The inspectorate accepted that allowing the application, made by developer Justin Claybourn, to convert the eastern annex into a dwelling, would be a disappointment, but concluded:
“I am not persuaded that the loss of the annex would make the remaining pub unviable for an alternative community use.
“The scheme would therefore not result in the unnecessary loss of a community facility reducing the community’s ability to meet its day to day needs.”
The appeal decision has been welcomed by David Fielder, who bought the shut-down Henry Jenkins from receivership in 2012 and subsequently sold the eastern portion of the building to Mr Claybourn.
Mr Fielder, whose company David Fielder Inns owns and operates 16 pubs, mainly in Yorkshire and Hambleton, told the Stray Ferret:
“Of these, 10 were closed when I bought them and nine were successfully re-opened and traded prior to covid, the only exception being the Henry Jenkins. I simply could not attract a tenant.
“Kirkby Malzeard cannot sustain two pubs, this view has been echoed by everyone I have had to view or have approached with a view to taking the Henry Jenkins on.
“There are also six pubs within 3.6 miles of the village all offering different experiences. Two have been for sale in recent years and failed to attract buyers.”
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HJCPL has no right of appeal against the inspector’s decision.
Its chairman, David Robinson, said:
“We must accept her conclusions and move on.
“It’s a blow and a big setback. We felt that we had a very strong case and we were supported at the online appeal hearing by an HBC planning officer.”
The western portion of the Henry Jenkins Inn is still available for sale or let.
HJCP’s management team must now decide whether making Mr Fielder an offer for his part of the site would enable it to create a viable community facility.