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Oct 2023

Crime

Council reiterates call for police base at Ripon Town Hall

Published: 10 Oct 2023, 14:36 BST

by Tim Flanagan

Councillors have reiterated the call for North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe to fulfil her promise to establish a police presence in Ripon Town Hall.

Members at last night's full Ripon City Council meeting said the need for visible and accessible policing in the city centre had increased because of recurring issues of antisocial behaviour and vandalism.

The problems range from vandal attacks on cars parked in the the city centre to stones being thrown through house windows — one of which injured the occupants.

Councillor Pauline McHardy said:

"Youths are making people's lives a misery and blighting this city and residents need somewhere convenient to go to to report these incidents when they occur."

City Council leader Andrew Williams received unanimous support in his call to approach Ms Metcalfe, whose time in office will end in May when her office's duties are transferred to the new York and North Yorkshire mayor's office. He reminded fellow councillors:

"In February, the commissioner issued a press release to say that a £91,000 refurbishment of space in the town hall was already underway and would be completed by June, but this wasn't correct.

"Since then, nothing has materialised and we need to write to the commissioner in the strongest terms calling on her to keep the promise that she made."

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At the time of the February announcement, councillors were hopeful the move to create a public consultation room, an office and a room for officers would help tackle crime in the city, providing an additional site to Ripon’s main Police and Fire Station at Stonebridgegate.

In August, a spokesperson for the crime commissioner said following the decision to approve funding for the move into the town hall, the ground floor space originally offered by Harrogate Borough Council was changed by the new North Yorkshire Council, in conjunction with Ripon City Council.

Alternative space was then offered on the second floor which it said will need to be assessed for “public accessibility and operational use”.

The spokesperson said:

“Commissioner Zoë is committed to ensuring that the residents of Ripon are provided with consistent, visible policing, and it is understood that North Yorkshire Police are currently in the process of assessing a number of additional sites in the heart of the city to ensure the local policing team are accessible to the public."

Ms Metcalfe added:

“When elected as police, fire and crime commissioner I made a commitment to the people of North Yorkshire that I would strive to ensure that they would always be safe and feel safe, with efficient use of public resources being one of my five key priorities.”

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Council reiterates call for police base at Ripon Town Hall

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