Judi Dench’s plea for preservation of trees needs to be balanced with caring for people who visit Ripon Cathedral - Yorkshire Post Letters

You report Dame Judi Dench’s plea for the preservation of trees in relation to the Ripon Cathedral annex proposals. Of course we need to preserve trees. However, neither she nor the Woodland Trust seem to have anything to say about the conflicting priority of caring for people.

Faced with thousands of visitors to the cathedral every month, the most pressing need is for decent public toilets. But there are many other urgent needs – changing rooms, facilities for people with disabilities, rehearsal space especially for the growing children’s choir, schools’ work, storage and the preservation of ancient Ripon heritage.

Every possible alternative site for the annex has been explored in depth over very many years and at considerable cost, and all have proved unworkable. It’s also obvious that that corner of the gardens is dank, unused and gloomy, especially at night. The stonemasons’ yard is an eyesore.

Well over 100,000 visitors come to the cathedral every year for events, concerts, education and services. They have no decent or adequate facilities. That is surely not the sort of welcome Ripon wants to give.

However, you quote Miss Dench as saying that she hopes “a solution can be found to protect this conservation area”. In fact we should all be concerned for this run-down area as well as for the people who visit Ripon and its cathedral, and those who work there.

Campaigning for trees is one thing, but there are considerable human needs here too. Beyond that, there are improvements to be made, not only in practical provision, but in enhancing and extending the conservation area, planting trees for the future, improving biodiversity and making the area more attractive and useful. And I am sure Miss Dench is just as concerned for people as she is for trees.