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NEWS UPDATE
A year has passed since Richmondshire District Council (RDC) applied to its own Planning & Environmental Committee for permission to sell Yorke Square to a developer to build 14 luxury apartments.
The RDC’s purpose was to raise money from the sale of Yorke Square and many of its other assets to fund the re-location of its offices in a new and exorbitantly expensive building outside Richmond. Yorke Square, as Richmondshire residents know, is in one of the most beautiful settings in the Richmond conservation area and is surrounded by 23 grade II listed buildings, a listed garden and a grade II* listed 18th century tower.
The planning application was submitted in December 2005 and permission was given by the committee in June 2006.
Save Our Shire (S.O.S.) has campaigned to prevent the planned development from the very beginning and has the recorded support of thousands of Richmondshire residents and visitors to the area as well as the support of a number of important organizations including The Landmark Trust (owners of Culloden Tower), Richmond Town Council and Richmond and District Civic Society. Thanks to the campaign and the magnificent and unprecedented support given to S.O.S., the RDC has had to put the sale of Yorke Square and the proposed new office development outside Richmond on hold.
The issue has not gone away. The fight continues. The outcome of the Judicial Review mounted by S.O.S. is awaited. Additional information submitted recently to the High Court has further delayed the Judicial Review process.
“The wheels of law grind slow but grind exceeding fine”
S.O.S. promises to keep Richmondshire residents and organizations up-to-date with developments as and when they occur. Meet S.O.S. members at the S.O.S. Saturday stall under Trinity Tower in the Market Place every Saturday morning – rain or shine!
People power has been, and still is, a force to be reckoned with in Richmondshire!
Democracy starts from the bottom!
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