St Wilfrid’s Church
Passions are running high in the Duchy area of Harrogate, around St Wilfrid’s Church. The PCC, who are responsible for the only Grade 1 listed church in the town, which needs repairs to its roof, have done a deal with NEDL over an electricity substation in the grounds. There is a sizeable piece of underused land by the church and Harrogate, I am reliably informed, desperately needs more relay capacity. (I think that’s the term although I am far from an expert in things electrical).
The proposed substation is large and the rent paid to the church would be substantial. This week’s Harrogate Advertiser has illustrated it with a picture of double decker buses stacked on top of each other. The plans are on the Council’s website and show the architect’s drawings which look quite a lot better than the buses.
The Council is taking its time over the decision – their website shows that the application was submitted in April 2009 and the target determination date was at the end of July 2009. But there is still no firm date – would I be thought cynical if I voiced the view that it is unlikely to be resolved before the election? No matter what the reason, this application is well outside the normal time limits applied to planning applications.
Clearly it is not an easy or straightforward decision – we need the relay station and the church needs money, and particularly because it is a listed building it should be maintained in good condition. I think the architects have made a reasonable job of trying to design a utilitarian building sympathetically.
But I don’t think that the substation is the right solution to the funding challenge that St Wilfrid’s faces. It’s just too big. The impact on the listed building would be, in my view, completely unacceptable.
I await the Council’s decision with interest.
Claire Kelley's Diary 
How pleasing it was to read about the bid to establish a restoration fund for this magnificent church in the ‘Special Feature’ posted in the Advertiser of 5th February (Page 24). It is very encouraging that such prominent buildings, which form such an important part of the fabric of this splendid town, are given such attention and preserved for generations to come.
Churches are such important places in society, reaching beyond worship and faith, providing a focus in the community for many functions and life occurrences. Undoubtedly members of all faiths across the community have been brought together for any number of such events at St Wifrid’s – the wedding of a friend perhaps, children’s birthday parties, more sombre occasions like the funeral of a close colleague. Many people will have visited, no doubt, for important public functions too – voting on polling days being an example – and how thankful we should all be for the wider community support afforded by church halls, providing a meeting place for many societies and interest groups of all ages and beliefs, facilitating the activities of fine youth organisations such as the Scouting and Guiding movements, who promote sound society values and guidance for youngsters in all communities.
How fitting it is also that the church has chosen a musical event to launch their appeal fund, taking full advantage of the excellent acoustics at St Wifrid’s to provide a platform for our excellent local musical groups – a great way to promote harmony and appeal to the wider community. The Secretary of State has seen fit to recognise the importance of this building by affording it the highest possible level of heritage protection – Grade 1 Listed status – a measure bestowed upon ONLY 2.5% of all Listed buildings. Let us hope the people of Harrogate show their recognition of this significant building too by supporting the appeal.
It was also encouraging that the church appears to be focussing its fund raising activities on more traditional lines, relying on community support to effect building projects and repairs. The recent campaign to raise £2m for works at St Peter’s in the town centre has reached some £1.5m and is testament to this tried and tested approach. The Advertiser’s ‘Special Feature’ was also quick to point out that there are plans to build a Primary Electricity Sub-station in the grounds of St Wilfrid’s and that Northern Electric Distribution Ltd (NEDL) have submitted a planning application. How different the wonderful pictures of the church taken by the Newspaper’s photographer, Marcus Corazzi, would look, should these proposals go ahead. The plans indicate a monstrosity of a building that extends to the equivalent of 4 double decker buses in length, 3 wide and a little under 2 in height (as illustrated in the Advetiser of 19 Feb). Such an industrial installation would dominate the rear courtyard of the church and totally obliterate the wonderful views of the arcade passageways linking the Church Hall and Verger’s Cottage, as well as taking away valued amenity land for parking and loading at church functions.
Granted, the financial inducements being offered to St Wilfrid’s by NEDL will appear attractive but hopefully this move to more traditional fund raising is a sign that the church is resisting the allurements devised primarily for NEDL’s commercial gain and is sticking with the community – continuing to raise funds through the valued facilities of the church hall and protecting the setting of this important landmark.
There MUST be any number of sites within Harrogate that are more suitable for this installation and which do not form an important part of the setting of a protected Grade 1 Listed building. Given this site lies within a residential area, adjacent to schools and within the Conservation Area and considering the proposed industrial use, with far reaching health & safety implications attached to its dangerous processes, I am pleased to read that you are wholly against this proposal and hope your concerns are voiced to the wider public in your forthcoming election campaign.
I thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours faithfully
GARETH M GIBBS
Gareth Gibbs
March 1, 2010