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 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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Traditional wooden signs that welcome visitors to Ripon and invite them to ‘stay awhile amid its ancient charms’ are in need of replacement.

At last week’s full city council meeting, former Mayor Councillor Eamon Parkin, said:

“The signs have been dropping to bits and I first asked for them to be replaced six years ago, but they remain in place and in a poor condition.”

Parts of the sign on North Bridge have fallen victim to the elements and vandalism

Last month, as part of Ripon BID’s commitment to improve wayfinding it announced it had partnered with North Yorkshire highways to put new metal boundary marker signs in place on Ripon bypass, Boroughbridge Road, Kirkby Road and Studley Road.

One of the metal boundary signs that is now in place

The project was supported by city and North Yorkshire councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams through donations from their locality budgets.

The welcome sign on Rotary Way

However, at the city council meeting, Cllr Williams said:

“These were never intended to replace the wooden welcome to Ripon signs, which are part of the city’s heritage.”

Councillors agreed for costings to be sought for wooden replacement signs and, once obtained, for these to be considered at a future meeting.

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Could a park and ride scheme be the answer to Ripon’s parking problems as it bids to attract more visitors?

That was one of the suggestions made at Monday’s full city council meeting, where Councillor Jackie Crozier called for a feasibility study focused on Ripon’s parking issues to be carried out.

She said:

“With more new housing coming on stream and an increase in visitors, we need to start to move forward by looking at all options that are open to us.”

“On a recent market day, some people who came to the city found it impossible to find a parking space and Ripon lost out because of this as they headed elsewhere.”

Councillor Andrew Williams, said:

“One of the things that we need to look at is how we could link Ripon’s new bus service into a park and ride scheme so that tourists and other visitors can park on the outskirts of the city and be brought in by bus.

“At the same time, to ease the pressure on parking spaces, we should encourage more residents to leave their cars at home and come into the city by public transport.”

As a first step in looking to find a solution to the city’s parking problems, it was agreed that North Yorkshire Council officers be invited to meet with Ripon City Council’s transport group and for preliminary discussions to be held.

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Ripon councillors are calling for new safety measures to be put in place near a city centre junction where four accidents have occurred in two years.

Concerns were raised at Monday night’s full city council meeting about the junction of Fishergate and Old Market Place, where a pedestrian was involved in an accident on the morning of September 1.

Councillor Eamon Parkin said:

“There have been four accidents here in two years and something needs to be done.”

A number of measures to make crossing the road safer for pedestrians were discussed, after Cllr Pauline McHardy proposed a zebra crossing be installed by North Yorkshire Council.

She said:

“This is a dangerous place for people to cross, but we could make it safer at little expense by putting white paint on the road.”

Councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams, who represent Ripon on North Yorkshire Council, said the council doesn’t install zebra crossings any more.

Cllr Williams also said:

“The installation of a Pelican (light controlled) crossing  would cost thousands of pounds and be unlikely to be approved.

“We do, however, need to ensure that people can cross the road safely and I recommend that we ask North Yorkshire to put signs on posts at the approaches to the junction that say ‘Beware Pedestrians Crossing’.”

Councillors agreed to write to North Yorkshire Council requesting that new measures be put in place to make the junction safer.

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North Yorkshire Council will decide in October which parish councils to select for its double-devolution pilot scheme.

A central pledge in the case for local government reorganisation, which saw the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council, was that parish councils would be handed more powers if they could make a successful business case.

Twelve councils across North Yorkshire have made bids to be part of the pilot, including Ripon City Council which wants to take over the running of council-owned assets in the city, including the Town Hall and Market Square.

Knaresborough Town Council has also made a bid to run the town’s market.

Harrogate is excluded from the process because it doesn’t have a parish council.

Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he was expecting a decision on which six councils would be picked at a meeting of the Tory-run executive last week.

However, the council has said the winning parish councils will be revealed in October, with the pilots getting underway in April next year.

Cllr Williams said this left an “extremely tight window” for the council to set its precept in January, which sets out how much council tax residents have to pay in the next financial year.

Richard Flinton, chief executive of the council, said:

“Our pilot project to explore opportunities for town and parish councils to manage certain services and assets on behalf of North Yorkshire Council – known as double devolution – remains on schedule.

“Last year, town and parish councils were invited to submit expressions of interest in being involved in the project. That invitation set out a timeline that stated the intention was to take a report to North Yorkshire Council’s executive in autumn 2023.  This timescale was reiterated in an email to town and parish councils in May this year.

“While it was thought that it might be possible to accelerate this process, it was important to take the available time to thoroughly evaluate all expressions of interest. This work is now nearing completion and a report is expected to go to executive in October, as per the intended timeline.”

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Hundreds of people gathered on Ripon Market Square yesterday for the last large-scale public event of the summer organised by the city council.

Families with children from tots to teenagers came early in the  afternoon to ride the Ferris wheel and roundabout, both of which proved a constant draw until dusk, when tribute acts took centre stage in front of the town hall.

The queue for the Ferris wheel stretched the length of Market Square

Evening entertainment was provided by tribute acts playing the hits of Neil Diamond, Elton John and Robbie Williams, while the Big Boyband Reunion, played a selection of the chart-topping songs made famous by leading boy bands.

The crowd on Market Square steadily grew throughout the evening.

One of the concert highlights came when the Neil Diamond lookalike and soundalike sang Sweet Caroline, the adopted anthem of the England women’s football team.

Sweet Caroline struck a chord with the Ripon crowd

The Robbie Williams tribute act

Elton John’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me rang out before sunset arrived and at 9pm Allison Clark, a member of the Ripon hornblower team (pictured below) provided a reminder of the city’s ancient roots, by performing the nightly setting of the watch ceremony, which has reputedly been carried out  without break for more than eleven hundred years.

You can watch a live video from last night on our Facebook page.

More free Bank Holiday entertainment

The free family-focused entertainment continues in Ripon on Monday, with a street party in Kirkgate from 11am until 4pm and a Spanish-themed fiesta on Minster Gardens from 5pm until 9.30pm.

Organised by independent businesses in the city as part of the Totally Locally initiative developed with Ripon BID, the Bank Holiday event will see the closure of Kirkgate from 9am.

Ripon is preparing for another bank holiday weekend of free family-focused entertainment, featuring live music, fairground rides and a Spanish-flavoured fiesta.

Tomorrow (Saturday) a ferris wheel and Mini Miami ride will be among the attractions on Market Square from 12 noon until 8pm, as part of the last public event of the summer organised by Ripon City Council and financed through the parish precept.

From 7pm until 11pm music will take centre stage, with tribute acts performing the hits of Neil Diamond, Elton John and Robbie Williams, before the Big Boyband Reunion provides a rousing end to the entertainment.

Popular tunes and ancient tradition will come together at 8.55pm when a member of the Ripon hornblower team sets the city watch with blasts of their horn at the four corners of the obelisk.

The Easter street party in Kirkgate brought hundreds of visitors to the city

Bank Holiday Monday street party

As a follow-up to the highly-successful Easter Bank Holiday Monday street party held in Kirkgate, Ripon’s independent businesses have joined forces once more to arrange an event designed to draw visitors into the city and entertain local residents.

Kirkgate will close to traffic from 9am, for a day of entertainment running from 11am until 4pm and including buskers and on-street food and drink offers.

Between 5pm and 9.30pm, Minster Gardens will be transformed into a musical fiesta venue, with decorative lighting for a paella picnic among the trees.

The entertainment will be provided by Knaresborough Vista Social Club, Bailey Brown and virtuoso Ukrainian violinist Nadia.

There will be a horsebox bar and a pop-up paella restaurant supplied by Manchega Tapas Restauarant, whose owner, Richard Hughes, said:

“Ripon should be the destination for anyone visiting the north of England! It has everything to offer.”

He added:

“This whole event is an example of the local business community promoting a can-do attitude.  It has been funded almost entirely by donations from local businesses and also by sponsorship from Voneus Broadband, along with ongoing administrative support from the Ripon BID, as part of the excellent Totally Locally initiative.”

For the third successive year, Ripon Together and its partners have arranged  a programme of free activities for young people this summer.

The four-day Funfest starts on Monday August 14 and offers something for everyone at locations across the city and at Studley Royal Cricket Club.

Activities range from storytelling to juggling, mindfulness and formal sports coaching in cricket and football.

While the events are free, those planning to attend need to book for many of them and further details can be obtained by clicking here

At Studley Royal Cricket Club on Monday, August 14, there will be relay races and an obstacle course, alongside coaching from Ripon Runners and cricket coaching.

On the same day, Ripon Library will have a smoothie bike in place, so that people can use pedal power to make their own healthy drinks. There will also be stories and games for young children, followed by a film evening for teenagers.

On Tuesday, August 15, in addition to the cricket and athletics at Studley Royal, Ripon Spa Croquet Club will also be running a come and play session.

Spa Park is the venue for August 16, where there will be football coaching, circus skills training and crazy golf.

The Funfest finale will be staged Studley Royal Cricket Club on Thursday August 17 with a large inflatable obstacle course in place, sumo wrestling and croquet.

Inspire Youth will be providing mindfulness, table tennis, football penalties and other activities. There will also be free food.

David Ingham, a director of Ripon Together, said:

“We are massively grateful to our local councillors, Morrisons, The Jepson Trust and Ripon Girls Club for our funding.  The programme is also a great example of how Ripon Together can bring the community together to deliver for the city.

“Studley Royal Cricket Club, Ripon Spa Croquet Club, YMCA and others have been so supportive in delivering this programme for the children of our city.”