THE annexe project at Ripon Cathedral, under which a song school and a café are to be built on the adjoining Minister Gardens (News, 7 March), could generate an additional £3 million for the regional economy every year, through an estimated increase of 35,000 more visitors.
This was the message of the brand new Cathedral Support Group at its launch meeting. More than 100 people have joined the group, which “goals to provide a voice to the support in town for a latest annexe for the cathedral and to counteract spurious myths which have arisen concerning the development”, a press release says.
The meeting was chaired by Meg Munn, an ecumenical canon of the cathedral and a member of the Group. “Ripon Cathedral shouldn’t be only an exquisite historic constructing but an actual asset for town and the region,” she said.
“The proposed annexe would offer much-needed facilities and make sure that the entire cathedral may be open to the general public. Everyone in town would profit from the increased visitor numbers. It is time for the people of Ripon to get behind this development.”
But the Ripon Civic Society, which advises on planning applications, has expressed concern that views from Studley Royal Park — which incorporates the ruins of Fountains Abbey, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — might be harmed.
A technical statement submitted to North Yorkshire Council from the International Council on Monuments and Sites sets out intimately the buffer zone within the UNESCO designation of the location, which is intended to guard it against anything that might “harm key views”, including “inappropriately sited buildings”.
The cathedral, which may be viewed from the park, was inside this buffer zone, the civic society said, and the potential effect was “even greater” in winter, when the trees were without leaves. Ripon Cathedral’s heritage-impact assessment submitted with its planning application maintains that the annexe “won’t impede or impair” any views from the location.
A counter-proposal is to locate the annexe within the cathedral’s stone yard, and never the gardens; but this has already been rejected by the Dean and Chapter.
Last month, the Yorkshire Post reported that Stanley Mackintosh, who lives near the cathedral, was ordered by North Yorkshire Council to remove posters and slogans outside his home which criticised the £8-million project. Alongside a petition, there was a cartoon depicting the Dean with a chainsaw. A 200-year-old beech tree, redesignated as a Veteran Tree by the Woodland Trust, is earmarked for felling.
The cathedral put the planning application on hold in January in order that “drop-in sessions” might be held for workers to debate the plans and receive feedback. The council’s decision on the scheme is anticipated later this yr.
Speaking to the Church Times, the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, said: “The Renewed project is all about serving people, town, diocese, and region higher, and securing the long-term sustainability of the cathedral.
“There can be more to say in September; all of the progress in the meanwhile is behind the scenes and confidential.”
