A Future for Saint Michael’s: Our First Cold Kirby Consultation
On Monday 19 October, The Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail Society held the first community consultation about the possible future of Saint Michael’s Church, Cold Kirby.
Around 24 Cold Kirby residents joined trustees and our project consultants, Irving Patrick, at the Village Hall. The evening began with an opportunity to look at six information boards setting out our proposal to explore creating Saint Michael’s Lodge: low-cost overnight accommodation for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and other visitors to the North York Moors.
Most of the evening was given over to listening to residents and discussing their questions and concerns. These included parking and traffic, management of the Lodge, noise and disturbance, the churchyard and graves, utilities, the impact of any future building work and the long-term sustainability of the project.
This was the beginning of the conversation, not the end. The purpose of the evening was to listen, to explain what we know so far and, just as importantly, to be clear about the questions which the feasibility study still needs to answer. Residents were also invited to suggest alternative uses for Saint Michael’s, although none were proposed at the meeting.
We are grateful to everyone who came along, asked questions and shared their views. Further consultation will take place as the feasibility study progresses, and we are committed to keeping the conversation with Cold Kirby open and ensuring that local views help to inform the project as it develops.
The notes from the consultation meeting and our Questions and Answers document are available to download below. They provide a fuller record of the evening, the issues raised by residents and some of the questions that will be considered as the feasibility study progresses.
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