Welcome to Ripon
This site is intended to give local residents and visitors information and news about Ripon, the council’s work and also links to local places to stay, shop, eat, and worship, and attractions and businesses.
Here you will also find news and information from Ripon City Council, its elected representatives, its meetings and the work it is doing across the city.
You can also find information on the Council’s finances, agendas and minutes for meetings and information on your local City Councillor.
Please see our news page for information on what is happening in Ripon here
For information on Ripon City Plan please see the new website: www.riponcityplan.com
I feel that the council aren’t doing anything for kirkgate. We almost feel neglected by the council. Any attempt at advertising shops down kirkgate is shot down. If we cannot advertise then you need to help us, otherwise we’re going to go bankrupt and Ripon is going to go down the pan yet again. The cathedral is the only thing bringing people down and the council need to help to get Ripon back to the shopping centre it used to be. Kirkgate needs pedestrianizing as that is the first step in helping us. Make it a boutique street full of cafes and shops as everyone believes it’s a run down street with no shops. We can’t do this alone.
Thanks for your message. The Council’s City Development Manager and some of the Ripon Councillors are working with other organisations to address some of the concerns that have been raised.
Firstly, in relation to pedestrianisation of Kirkgate this is an issue that has been raised with North Yorkshire County Council, as the highway authority, as they are the only Council that can make this change. Having met with representatives of North Yorkshire County Council, the Chamber of Trade and the City Council have agreed the process by which pedestrianisation could be achieved, although this will involve consulting with all businesses and residents along Kirkgate and the surrounding area that would be affected by the changes.
Secondly, in relation to advertising, could you please provide more specific details about how attempts have been “shot down” and we can look into this further. I am not aware of any specific action that Ripon City Council has taken but I am happy to take this forward on your behalf.
I agree that the solutions to the problems facing Kirkgate cannot be achieved by anyone alone and equally we need to ensure that North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council, as well as Ripon City Council are aware of the problems you’re encountering and support us all to achieve the solutions we need.
I’m sick and tired of seeing that Kirkgate should be pedestrianized, what about the rest of Ripon’s business’s and where they are trading, I for one as a town centre business owner would oppose any kind of idea. People should pay more attention to the whole of Ripon and not one street.
I think Georgie is, quite naturally, looking for help for the location/area of her business in Kirkgate but at least there is the attraction of the cathedral that must take more foot traffic down Kirkgate than goes down North Street or Westgate. So, I have empathy for Mr Harrison’s view that the whole of Ripon’s businesses need as much help as they can get. The closures in recent years of M & S, Burtons, Philip Halls, Abbotts, the Health Food shop in the arcade and several small shops is a reflection of the recession the whole country has suffered. Or is there an element of the locals not supporting Ripon’s shops? Whatever, any help the local shops can be given would, I am sure, be welcomed. What about a few “directories” strategically placed, informing visitors and locals alike of the type of shops that are in and off the Market Place? They do the job in large indoor shopping centres, why not here?