Buildings to be transferred to city council

An agreement has been reached between North Yorkshire Council and Ripon's city council over the ownership of several buildings in the city.

Responsibility for Hugh Ripley Hall, Wakeman's House and Ripon Town Hall will be transferred following talks between civic leaders and council staff.

The deal will be the first major transfer of assets from North Yorkshire Council to a town or parish authority since 2023 when the new unitary authority was launched.

North Yorkshire Council has faced criticism from some councillors about delays in handing down powers, which were identified as a key aim of local government reorganisation.

Confirming the deal, Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council, said: "We always knew it was going to be difficult and we always knew it would take some time.

"There are people criticising us but they're missing the point that in the first year or so of the new council, we were just making sure that we got everything safe and legal that we had to."

He said it was the first major scheme to transfer assets the council had done since it inherited the buildings when it became a unitary authority.

Andrew Williams, who represents Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council and is leader of the majority group on the city council, said it would mean the people of the city would "own their community assets instead of leasing them".

"The intent is to enhance the buildings and give them a greater community purpose," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"If you look to what the people of Skipton did with their town hall — took an effectively dysfunctional, poorly repaired building and secure substantial investment within it so that it's now an integral part of the Skipton community life — we ought to do the same."

The councillors said management of the outdoor market in Ripon could be discussed by the two councils in the future.

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