Winchester churchgoers face higher parking fees

CHURCHGOERS in Winchester are dismayed at a seven-fold increase in Sunday parking charges in the city centre, The Times reports. The Liberal Democrat-run city council said that the increase was a contribution to tackling climate change by reducing traffic. The new rates were introduced last month: an increase in some car parks from £2.10 to £17 for more than four hours on a Sunday. Olive Bramley, 74, who was born in the city and has been worshipping at Winchester Cathedral all her life, told The Times that she was “incensed” by the decision. But the council’s cabinet member for the climate emergency, Kelsie Learney, said: “Air quality doesn’t care what day of the week it is,” and that “We continue to have easily available free parking for people working in or visiting the city in the evening and on Sundays.”

Archbishop Cottrell welcomes rabbi to York

THE Archbishop of York has welcomed the first rabbi to be appointed to York in 800 years. The city’s Liberal Jewish Community, which was formed in 2014, has appointed the Californian Rabbi Dr Elisheva Salamo. “It is good to hear that York is to have its first Rabbi in 800 years,” Archbishop Cottrell wrote on Twitter this week. “I look forward to meeting Rabbi Dr Elisheva Salamo when she begins her role in our historic city. Welcome!” Dr Salamo told the BBC that it was an “honour and a privilege” to help to rebuild what had once been one of England’s “most vibrant Jewish communities. I look forward to meeting our current members and anyone with an interest in a Jewish journey.”

Treasurer jailed for defrauding Radwell PCC

THE treasurer of All Saints’, Radwell, in Hertfordshire, Alison Blake, aged 52, of Top Green, Denston, in Suffolk, has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for embezzling £24,000 from the parish and a further £125,500 from her employer. She opened an online banking account for the church — with a regular congregation of ten — into which she paid fraudulent cheques from her employer, Kier Construction, in Hertfordshire, St Albans Crown Court heard. She spent the money on “retail therapy” to counter her depression, the court was told. Prosecutors said that Ms Blake had resisted attempts to have a second signatory on the church account and had lied to the other PCC members when persuading them to switch the account from Lloyds Bank to NatWest, claiming that Lloyds was charging them for the account, the BBC reports. The defending counsel said that she had paid back the church and offered to repay Kier. The judge, Mr Recorder Harris, said: “There was a serious abuse of position by you over a lengthy period of time.”

Council petitioned to block Ripon Cathedral extension

MORE than 800 people have signed a petition to block a £6-million plan to add a two-storey annexe to Ripon Cathedral, which would include a song school, refectory, gift shop, lavatories, disabled access, and storage space. The Chapter sought planning permission for the project late last year (News, 17 March), describing the cathedral as “bursting at the seams”. The plans to build on Minster Gardens — public land to the north of the cathedral, and adjacent to the Old Courthouse Museum — would involve felling 11 mature trees, which, protesters say, would take away green space from the city. But the Dean, the Very Revd John Dobson, told the BBC that this suggestion was “disingenuous”. “It is adding to the usable green space in the area, and landscaping will flow into the memorial garden. We are really disappointed with how this petition has been positioned, as we feel that it is not representative of the plans submitted.” The petition has been delivered to North Yorkshire Council.

Rector of St Mary’s, Aberdeen, resigns after complaint

A SPOKESPERSON for the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) has confirmed that the recent resignation of the Rector of St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Aberdeen, Canon Terry Taggart, came after the “lodging of a complaint” against the priest. A notice on the pro-cathedral’s website from April says that Canon Taggart stepped back from public ministry “for personal reasons”, and a notice in June said that the incumbency was now vacant. The spokesperson told Sky News last week: “Terry Taggart has resigned as rector of St Mary’s in Aberdeen and from his role with the diocese. He will not be returning to ministry with the Scottish Episcopal Church. An internal church process was commenced following the lodging of a complaint. Terry Taggart resigned following the lodging of that complaint.”