Calls for homes plan near city’s treasures to be thrown out

A series of concerns have been raised about plans to demolish the vacant auction mart, sheep pens and a public house and build 75 homes on the site which is close to some of the city’s listed treasures, including the Grade II listed Freemantle Terrace and the Grade II listed North Bridge.

Members of Harrogate District Council’s planning committee will be told the outline application from Ripon Property Developments Ltd is now set to be decided at an appeal when they meet on Tuesday but they are being urged to notify the Government it planned to refuse the application as concerns about ground stability have not been addressed.

Historically parts of Ripon have suffered from unstable ground and the application lies in a zone that has been declared an area of the “highest potential hazard.” Members will be told that developers wishing to build in this zone need to demonstrate that the development can go ahead safely.

The developers have submitted a report looking at the issue, however the council has sought independent advice which says the developer has not fully addressed concerns that the work could lead to the further erosion of underground gypsum, a highly soluble rock, and increase the risk of subsidence.

Coun Mick Stanley, the Mayor of Ripon, said: “Around Ripon a significant subsidence occurs every few years and the times of these events show that some zones are more active than others.

“The auction mart site has been an area without domestic or industrial development for many, many years and the main reason for this is the unsuitability of the site for development due to the presence of gypsum at depth that could catastrophically fail and peat at surface with its inherent ability to swell when wet and contract when dry.”

“Instability is not the foundation for a housing development,” he added.

The site is close to a number of listed buildings in the cathedral city. The Grade II listed former Chapel of St Mary Magdalene directly adjoins the eastern edge of the site and other significant buildings nearby include the Grade I listed Chapel of the Hospital of St Mary Magdalene and the Grade II listed buildings on Magdalen’s Road.

A report says part of the site, which includes the Station Hotel, is within the Ripon Conservation Area but the pub and other buildings are considered to be of “limited historical and aesthetic value.”

“It is considered that the demolition of the buildings alone without any replacement buildings would harm the street scene of the conservation area. It is crucial, however, that any new development on the site maintains or enhances the character and appearance of the conservation area and the setting of the nearby listed buildings,” the report says.

It says that the auction mart, in North Road, has been included on a draft plan highlighting potential sites for redevelopment. An earlier application for the site was withdrawn last year.

Officers believe issues of ground stability have not been dealt with and conclude: “The recommendation is therefore that had an appeal not been lodged the Local Planning Authority would have refused planning permission on this ground.”

Forty-two letters of objection have been received raising concerns including the loss of a community facility and fears the development will impact upon local wildlife.

However, Ripon Civic Society has said it objects to the loss of the pub but they have no objection in principle to residential development on the site.

Members of the Heritage Unit of North Yorkshire County Council say that the site is of archaeological interest.

The developers have said they plan to build 12 affordable homes as part of the development.