PLANNING officers are telling their own council that a scheme for new public toilets in Northallerton is unacceptable.

The environmental health department of Hambleton council wants to demolish and fill in the present underground toilets outside the town hall and replace them with a building above ground.

The building for men, women and the disabled would be just south of the town hall, with a canopy at the front facing the high street and bus stop. It would be built in brick and natural slate, with hipped roofs, and would be 4m high.

On Thursday, however, the planning committee will be recommended by its officers to send the scheme back to the health department because it is felt that, in its present form, the development would be out of place in the conservation area.

The town council is urging planners to reject the scheme, saying it is not in keeping with the conservation area or the general street scene.

It says new toilets of an agreed design should go on the north side of the town hall and also recommends an upgrading for the toilets in the Applegarth.

The county highways department has no objection in principle but has reservations about some elements of the proposed design.

Planning officers who have judged the proposal against policies for conservation areas believe that the development would obscure the main elevation of the town hall.

The building would create a cramped appearance, clutter the open character of that part of the high street, block views of listed buildings and create a tunnel effect along a service road.

Officers consider the canopy too bulky and claim a roof tower incorporating a ventilation system appears contrived and cumbersome.

1,000 retrace

the steps of

the monks

MORE than 1,000 people retraced the steps of monks who set up Fountains Abbey, near Ripon in 1132, led by a bishop who donned green wellies for the trek.

The Rt Rev John Packer, who took over as Bishop of Ripon and Leeds earlier this year, was making his debut as leader of the pilgrimage started 18 years ago by former Ripon Cathedral Canon David Ford.

He led the walk from Ripon Cathedral through the city to Studley Roger and then Studley Royal deer park to Fountains Abbey. There, standing on a soapbox, he led an ecumenical service in the cellarium.

The four-mile pilgrimage was headed by a walker carrying a simple white cross.

The tradition was started to retrace the steps of 13 monks from St Mary's Abbey, York, who set out from Ripon during Christmas 1132 and walked to Fountains where they established the abbey.

The walk has grown in popularity since its inception and acts as a reminder about how Fountains Abbey, now a World Heritage Site, was started. It is also a popular way of walking off festive celebrations