Summer 2025
At the National Park Authority’s AGM in June, Members voted unanimously to relocate the Ranger Depot, currently located on Sawmill Lane in Helmsley, to the Old Print Works, located off Riccal Drive.
When the National Park Authority purchased the plot of land intended for the new Headquarters development, it included an existing building on the other side of the English Heritage storage buildings, known locally as the Old Print Works. The original intention was to dismantle this building to create an additional area of storage and overflow parking. However, following a further assessment of the building, a revised proposal has been agreed with Members to reuse and refurbish the Old Print Works for use as a new garage and workshop.
NPA Members agreed there were a number of advantages to 'decoupling' the Ranger Depot from the new office development, including:
- Reducing the potential conflict of competing uses, for example wash down facilities and workshop noise adjacent to offices
- Improved access for volunteers to equipment required for tasks (particularly outside of office hours)
- Opportunity to look again and improve the proposed layout of the office development
- Improved car parking bays and EV charging bays
- Refurbishment of an existing dilapidated building, helping to improve the built environment in this area.
The Old Print Works will be fully refurbished, with the asbestos roof and concrete cladding replaced. The building will also be reduced in overall size, with the outdoor space used to provide much-needed facilities such as a tree nursery and areas to wash and dry equipment. The intention remains very firmly for this Ranger Depot building to be a garage store and workshop only (no offices or meeting rooms). A contractor has now been appointed and works are due to begin on the site at the start of September.
Plans for the new Headquarters building have also been adjusted to remove the Ranger Depot from the design. and the associated planning application submitted to North Yorkshire Council.
The National Park Authority will look to sell its existing Ranger Depot on Sawmill Lane once the new facilities are in place.