It is now nine months since ground stabilisation work costing £3.5 million began at Ripon Leisure Centre, but North Yorkshire Council (NYC) remains unable to give an opening date for the refurbished building.
The original £10.2 million contract awarded in November 2019 by the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council to construction company Willmott Dixon, was designed to give Ripon a new six-lane swimming pool attached to a fully revamped and equipped leisure centre building which opened in 1995.
Work began at the Camp Close site off Dallamires Lane in November 2019 and was scheduled to last 17 months.
Equipment used in ground stabilisation pictured at the site yesterday morning (Wednesday)
The total project also includes the provision of a new children’s playground and landscaping and restoration of playing fields that were donated in 1948 by Alderman Cyril Tetley Wade ‘for the benefit of the young people of the city.’
Rising costs
The running total for completion of the project has risen to £18 million and to date the pool at the Jack Laugher Leisure & Wellness Centre, which opened behind schedule in March 2022 and the playground that opened in February 2022, have been delivered.
A temporary gym has been in place on the car park in front of the Jack Laugher Leisure & Wellness Centre since last April. The children’s playground opened in February 2022
A year ago, a temporary gym costing £300,000 was installed on the centre car park and during the period that ground stabilisation works have remained ongoing, gym members have been attending spin classes at Hugh Ripley Hall.
During the four years since it was launched, the Stray Ferret has kept a close watch on the leisure scheme and has sought regular updates, initially from Harrogate Borough Council and from North Yorkshire Council since April 2023, when the unitary authority took over responsibility for the problematic project.
The questions we asked
On March 11 we asked the council the following six questions:
- What is holding up the work?
- Have additional issues arisen since NYC’s last update to the Stray Ferret in January
- Have additional costs been incurred (on top of the £3.5 million allocated for ground stabilisation?
- If yes, how much?
- Is there an opening date in prospect for the fully refurbished leisure centre building
- What progress has been made on the restoration of the children’s playing fields?
A reply received from a council spokesperson three days later said:
“We have nothing further to add to the last statement.”
In that statement, issued by the council on January 16, it said:
“The nature of the work is complex and is under constant review, dates will be announced to key partners when they are confirmed.
“Refurbishment work to the leisure centre began at the same time as the construction of the new swimming pool building, however it was paused when the extent of ground remediation work was identified. Refurbishment work will therefore be finished after completion of the ground stabilisation works.”
In October, the Stray Ferret reported that the leisure centre work had been temporarily paused after ground movement was detected in the 1995 building,
The North Yorkshire spokesperson said in the January statement that since October “no further issues have come to light”.
Working ‘within the confines of the existing budget’
On the question about potential additional costs for the delayed project, the NYC spokesperson stated:
“We continue to work within the confines of the existing budget.”
The Stray Ferret also asked about restoration of the children’s playing fields and football pitch, which have been no go areas for more than four years.
We were told:
“Seeding work will be carried out in advance of the opening date, but this will need to be given time to fully germinate and establish.”
Main image: As work continues on ground stabilisation, no opening date for the refurbished facility is available for North Yorkshire Council
Read more:
- £3.5 million remediation work underway at Ripon leisure centre
- Ripon leisure centre halts price increase due to ongoing work
- City councillors call for an end to spending on Ripon leisure centre
Ripon car dealership to close after Fiat restructure
A Ripon car dealership is set to close its doors at the end of the month after the manufacturer decided to pull out of the city.
Piccadilly Motors will close its branch in Dallamires Lane on Friday, April 28 after receiving notice that Fiat was ending its franchise agreement.
Customers have been invited to use the company’s sister site on Boroughbridge Road, Knaresborough, which will continue to trade as a Kia dealership as well as offering serving for Fiat, Abarth and Alfa cars.
The Knaresborough branch is less than 10 miles away from Ripon, and the Piccadilly team said it has introduced extra support for customers travelling from the Ripon area, including more courtesy cars.
Managing director Simon Watts told the Stray Ferret:
“We have managed this carefully and because of the growth of the business we have in Knaresborough, most customers have already migrated to the Kia product and we’re also doing Fiat for servicing at Knaresborough, as well as MOTs.
“It’s the same with staff. We’ve really handled that in the most sympathetic manner we could. Fortunately, only one person will lose their job, who doesn’t want to travel, but they’ve managed to get another job elsewhere.
“It has been an absolute priority for us to handle it in the most customer- and colleague-friendly manner.”
Mr Watts said the company had looked to find another manufacturer to bring to its Ripon branch, but in a challenging market it had not been possible.
Demand for used cars is high in the UK, leading to low supply for dealerships. The looming prospect of changing legislation over sales of petrol and diesel cars is also having an impact, as manufacturers work to deliver more electric vehicles in time for the 2030 cut-off.
Fiat has only been selling the 500 model, Mr Watts said, and the low volume of sales had led it to restructure its network. He added:
“It’s disappointing, but thankfully we’ve got a business in close proximity that can carry on providing a service.”
Read more:
Temporary gym installed at Ripon leisure centre
The building that will house the £300,000 temporary gym at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre has been located in the car park near the entrance to the swimming pool.
The prefabricated structure was put into position yesterday morning using a long-reach mobile crane and while the opening date has yet to be confirmed, a spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council told the Stray Ferret:
“I believe it will be towards the end of the month (April) that customers will start to use the alternative gym.”
The temporary building
Once up and running, the temporary facility will enable the closure of the existing gym on the upper floor of the 28-year-old leisure centre next to the new swimming pool that opened last March.
This will pave the way for ground stabilisation works costing £3.5million to be carried out under the building.
The temporary gym, operated by Brimhams Active on behalf of the newly-formed North Yorkshire Council unitary authority, will be fitted out with Technogym equipment currently available in the existing leisure and wellness centre, and expert advice and guidance will be available.
Customers will still be able to use the changing and shower facilities in the new pool area – as well as the sauna and steam suite – as they will remain open as normal.
Group exercise classes will also continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall.
Read more:
A senior Harrogate councillor has defended building a new swimming pool in Ripon on the Dallamires Lane site in the city amid concerns over ground stability.
The Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre, which includes the new pool, opened in January this year.
However, ground stabilisation works, which are set to cost Harrogate Borough Council £3.5 million, have delayed plans to open the gym and exercise studio on the site.
The work comes after underground voids were discovered beneath the older half of the site which was built in 1995.
At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, Cllr Pauline McHardy, who represents Ripon minister ward, asked Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, whether he felt the pool should have been built elsewhere.
She said:
“When this council moves and we go under a unitary, we’re left with a swimming pool that is not stable and could be gone tomorrow.
“My question to you is don’t you think that, instead of spending all this money trying to bodge it up, it would have been find another site and built a completely new one that was suitable for Ripon and its future?”
Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at Harrogate Borough Council.
However, Cllr Lumley defended the decision to built the pool on the Dallamires Lane site and said the pool was “state of the art” and “way better” than the previous facility.
Cllr Lumley said:
“We decided to build there because it makes absolute sense to have the wet side and the dry side together under one roof, under one management and under one set of staff.
“That’s been proven at other sites around the district and that’s the model that we chose to go forward with as a council.”
He added that he could not agree with “accusations” over instability at the facility.
Temporary gym delayed
Stabilisation works at the site come as a £300,000 temporary gym planned for the centre has been delayed until the New Year.
The gym – which will be situated in the car park next to the main entrance – is due to be in place while work is carried out.
The need for ground stabilisation works follows the discovery of a void under part of the existing leisure centre understood to have been present for a number of years.
Read more:
- Delayed opening for temporary gym at Ripon leisure centre
- Ripon Leisure Centre ground works will cost £3.5 million
It was discovered when the reinforced concrete slab for the new swimming pool was cast.
The temporary gym will include equipment currently available in the existing leisure and wellness centre and expert advice and guidance will be provided by members of the Brimhams Active team.
Customers will be able to use the changing and shower facilities in the new pool area – as well as the sauna and steam suite – which opened in March and group exercise classes will also continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall.