North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA) has agreed to use a £1.5m government grant to build a new depot for its rangers.
The authority will redevelop the Old Print Works site in Helmsley to replace an existing depot in the town’s Sawmill Lane, which is in need of replacement.
The new site off Riccal Drive was purchased along with land for a new headquarters for the organisation.
Original plans included the demolition of the Old Print Works building after the authority was advised that a repair would be uneconomical.
Further studies have concluded however that the steel frame and concrete core are structurally sound, and the building is suitable to be redeveloped as a ranger depot.
Helen Barry, NYMNPA property manager, said officers had considered whether to build a new garage on the existing Sawmill Lane site and secure long-term tenure of the compound from the landlord, but it was believed the site was too small for the authority’s requirements.
She told members at a full authority meeting today (MONDAY), that the most “financially efficient option” was to fund the relocation of the depot to the Old Print Works as this would make best use of a £1.5m in funding from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).
The grant was provided to the authority for use on capital projects during the current final year.
The officer said: “The Defra one-off allocation of funding, which is time-limited, creates a window of opportunity to resolve the provision of a new depot.
“Officers conclude that the best use of this funding is for the depot development to start as soon as possible and be spent on the option which is more likely to make use of that funding.
“Having assessed the operational and financial considerations of both rebuilding options, Sawmill Lane and the Old Print Works, the authority’s preference is to re-purpose the Old Print Works, and at the appropriate time sell the freehold and surrender the leaseholds at Sawmill Lane.”
NYMNPA chair Jim Bailey gave his support to this option.
“We have to do something with Sawmill Lane. It’s a massive risk of something going wrong, pollution, accident, and heaven knows what.
“What’s really important is that we actually get out of Sawmill Lane. I wouldn’t want to see us in a year’s time still with Portakabins at Sawmill Lane, still with the Old Print Works being used for something else.
“Consolidating our ranger and volunteer services at the site (off Riccal Lane) we’ve got is really good. It would put our ranger operations away from the residential part of the site, which the people were concerned about. There’s a lot of positives in doing this.”
Plans for the new headquarters were approved by North Yorkshire Council in January despite objections from local residents.
Members of the Riccal Drive Residents Group claimed council planners failed to follow key road safety features of the Helmsley Town Plan when assessing the development.
Residents were also concerned about noise from the workshop at the new base.
The authority is in the process of assessing tenders to build the new headquarters before a final decision on the build is made.
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