AN “UNEXPECTEDLY redesignated tree” has caused the Dean and Chapter of Ripon Cathedral to spend thousands of pounds on new designs for its proposed annexe. The original project had attracted opposition from local people and heritage groups (News, 9 August).

Concern about the potential loss of 12 trees — among them, a 200-year-old beech tree classified by the Woodland Trust as a Veteran Tree — and issues over the effect that the new building would have on the surrounding view resulted in the “pausing” of the project in January for further consultation.

Revised plans will now go before North Yorkshire Council’s planning committee next Tuesday (News, 30 August).

“The extra period of consultation was very fruitful, and actually showed that 77 per cent of respondents were in favour of our original proposal,” a cathedral spokesperson said. “It was quite clear that people were concerned that trees had to be removed and how close the building needed to be to the cathedral. We did want to compromise, if possible, and save the veteran tree.”

Ripon CathedralThe new designs, which incorporate the trees

The spokesperson continued: “The great thing about this [new] design is that it still provides all the facilities that the cathedral desperately needs; it saves the veteran beech tree; and still delivers increased green open space, more trees, and greater biodiversity.”

The new scheme is “a slightly different shape, but still with its entrance close to the cathedral”; the “amended proposal has cost tens of thousands of pounds”.

A campaign, involving social media, to challenge the proposals has enlisted several high-profile individuals, including Dame Judi Dench, who was born in Yorkshire, and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams.

Expected to give Ripon “an economic boost of about £1 million a year” and deliver “a Cathedral Quarter”, the multi-million-pound project — which has yet to be funded — would be “doing much to secure the long-term sustainability of the cathedral”, the spokesperson said.

“Our hope is that the compromise the Chapter has made will cause opponents to reconsider their position and engage faithfully with plans that offer so much benefit to the city, cathedral, diocese, and region. The amended plans have been submitted, and we await a planning-committee decision.”