Campaigners conducted a respectful, candlelit midnight vigil around the military memorial gardens on Saturday 8 June, to draw attention to the loss of this remembrance garden, if the £8mn annexe plans of Ripon Cathedral are approved.
Drainage images and images of the site circulated in the Cathedral’s own promotional material, clearly show that the area where the garden currently sits will be dug up and concreted over.
The Cathedral told ITV Calendar news last week that, “The memorial garden will stay in place and the garden will continue to be a focal point of the gardens under the Cathedral’s proposed plans for vital new facilities”.
However, there is no evidence of the memorial garden on the plans, calling into question this statement from the Cathedral. The position of the memorial garden lies in the bottom left corner of the image above, in the dark grey section. It can also clearly be seen that it has not been relocated on the image.
Additionally, there is no mention of any re-positioning of the memorial gardens in the lengthy planning documents, with only conditional consideration being given to these important markers, “The project offers the opportunity to review how the Jubilee (and recent passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II) may be represented in a way that is more in keeping with the setting and how the war memorial may be given a better quality immediate setting”. [emphasis added]
The only other reference in the planning documents is to a plinth on the concreted area, again highlighting that the well-tended memorial garden will be lost.
‘A priority, not an afterthought’
A spokesperson for the Save Our Trees Campaign Group, which has been determinedly fighting to protect this green public space said:
“In a week where we remember the sacrifice of those involved in the D-Day landings, we feel that it is distasteful that any developer would be looking to dig up a war memorial. The protection of this should be a priority of the application, not an afterthought. It is also sad that so many people in the city seem blithely unaware that this memorial garden will be lost, if the planning passes.
“The only reasonable and respectful course of action is for the Cathedral to give up this claim to public land and instead use the nearby location of the stonemason’s yard. This would negate the need for a military memorial garden to be needlessly destroyed.”
Nick Heaton, an army veteran and one of the campaigners attending the vigil, told Yorkshire Bylines:
“At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we should remember them. Not just one day a year, but every day, and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by what is, arguably, our finest generation. I attended the candlelit vigil to do just that and also to raise awareness of plans to build over half of the memorial garden, a dedicated war memorial since the Great War.
“Ripon’s place in British military heritage, particularly the Corps of Royal Engineers is undeniably incredible. The Royal School of Military Engineering was located here during the last war and played a vital role in development of equipment, training military engineers and preparing troops for Operations Neptune, Overlord and the Battle of Normandy.
“At a time when Ripon’s military heritage is under threat by developers we have to decide whether we’re serious about saving it or not, regardless of who the developer is. We’ve been constantly told the [Royal British Legion] memorial garden isn’t being touched, despite the plans showing its removal. In the 80th anniversary year of D-Day I would like to see it given much greater protection and consideration in the plans.”
Response from military organisations
As the Remembrance sculpture had the crest of the Royal British Legion on it, Yorkshire Bylines contacted the Legion for comment. Despite repeated reminders, there was no comment forthcoming by the deadline.
A spokesperson from the 21 Engineer Regiment, who are stationed in the city, said:
“We’re proud of our enduring bond with the city and people of Ripon and are grateful for the support and friendship of the community in which we live and work. As planning permission proposals remain under discussion it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
Legal pressure mounts
The local MP, Julian Smith, had passed on a request from campaigners to ‘call-in’ this application with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, just before parliament was dissolved for the upcoming general election.
A response received this week noted that, “officials in the planning casework unit are currently investigating the issues raised and these, along with all other relevant information, will be taken into account before the secretary of state decides whether or not to call-in the application for determination”.
Campaigners have also secured the services of a major planning law firm and have also begun fundraising in earnest to pay for expert reports into the impact on the heritage assets surrounding this application.
An election issue?
Campaigners now hope that the annexe plans figure prominently as an election issue – especially now that the manifestos have been released and the importance of the access to nature has been identified.
With the next planning committee scheduled for the start of July and close to the general election, it may be that there is yet another delay to these plans. This may be a boon for campaigners, however, as they hope that the silence will be lifted on this controversial issue of the military memorial being dug up. It may even allow time for the developer to finally seek permission from the secretary of state to develop on a scheduled ancient monument site.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
