Harrogate Borough Council will spend £650,000 on long-awaited plans to bring 11 one-bedroom flats in Ripon back into use.

Plans to refurbish the council homes at Allhallowgate date back seven years but have been delayed due to sinkhole concerns in the area.

In 2015, planning permission was granted to demolish a block of flats at 4-14a Allhallowgate and replace them with nine townhouses. The plan also included a major refurbishment of an existing block of flats.

The flats were demolished but the rest of the scheme was halted in 2019 after an engineering firm found ground instability “could be foreseen” on or near the site. They warned that measures to reduce the risk of the townhouses collapsing were not cost-effective.

Ripon sits above a layer of gypsum, which is a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

The council pledged to continue with the refurbishment of the existing flats that weren’t demolished. However, its plans were paused again during covid as they were used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

In May, the council was quoted £1.1m for the project by a contractor — almost double its budget of £650,000. It has since removed plans to build an extension to the building to reduce costs.

Read more:

• Losing horticultural nursery will be ‘big, sad loss’ for Harlow Hill, says councillor
• City councillors support the principle of £6m Ripon Cathedral development

The council’s cabinet met on Wednesday night to approve spending money on the refurbishment.

Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Mike Chambers, who is also councillor for Ripon Spa, said he was happy the project was finally moving forward.
He said:

“This is a project that for a number of years has hit the buffers for various reasons. It is now appropriate we start moving it forward again. It is somewhat of an eyesore so I’m delighted we’re moving forward.

“It will improve the streetscene and a number of residents are concerned about the state of the block following the demolition. It’s high time we moved on.”
Subject to planning permission, HBC hopes to complete the refurbishment by May 2023.

Ripon councillors are calling on North Yorkshire County Council not to sanction spending £3.5 million on remediation works at the city’s leisure centre.

The city council believes that other options should be fully investigated, including building a new centre at a different location where there are stable ground conditions.

The ground floor of the leisure centre has stayed closed due to safety concerns and Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) is to install a temporary gym on the site.

The call from city councillors comes after a report by engineering firm Stantec into the ground stability issues affecting the existing centre’s foundations.

The report, supplied following a Freedom of Information Request made to HBC, ruled out a new location for the centre, but Independent city council leader Andrew Williams, who was elected to NYCC in May, said:

“They (HBC) are blindly and belligerently pouring money into propping up a centre that is nearly 30 years old and there is no guarantee that more funding won’t be needed after remediation works begin.”

He added:

“These works would take the total spending on this project to £18 million – some £8 million above the original budget – and they can’t continue ploughing money into this site, with its known history of ground stability issues, including a sinkhole that opened up on the leisure centre car park in 2018.

“Instead of throwing good money after bad, we need to call on North Yorkshire Council, who will take over responsibility from April, to put an end to this additional spending and look for a suitable location for a new leisure centre to be built on sound land.”

As part of the devolution process, any major financial decisions by HBC will need to be approved by NYCC’s executive. Permission needs to be given for capital projects costing £1 million and above.

A report to a meeting of HBC’s cabinet in August said the authority had made “every effort to provide an accurate estimate” of the costs of the remediation works but added these could rise further once the ground stability works begin.

Response from Harrogate Borough Council

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council, said:

“Building a new leisure centre at another site in Ripon would cost a significant amount of money and would result in two separate facilities to maintain, two sets of running and staffing costs, for example.

“It would also involve purchasing land in a suitable location that we don’t currently have, going through the planning application process and disposing of the existing building safely, all of which would take time and a considerable amount of money. And there is no guarantee that a different site wouldn’t have similar ground conditions.

“Co-location of both wet and dry leisure facilities is also important for increasing and sustaining participation in exercise, as well as optimising revenue and cost recovery.

“The new gym combined with the pool on one site is proving to be extremely popular, and will be further complimented by two new activity studios, sports hall, a spin studio as well as meeting facilities.”

The spokesperson, added:

“Our consulting engineer has advised that a do-nothing approach is not advised. And although there is no immediate change in the geological risk profile to the building – that was originally built in 1995 and has provided sport and leisure services for more than 25 years – it is recommended that ground stabilisation works are undertaken to ensure people in Ripon can keep fit and active for years to come.”

A leading authority on Ripon sinkholes has called on Harrogate Borough Council to ‘get a reality check’ and abandon plans to spend yet more money on the city’s leisure centre.

The council said this month it plans to carry out further ground stability measures at the site, which could take a year.

A report to be considered by HBC’s cabinet on Wednesday, says the work will cost £3.5 million. If approved, this will take the running total on the project to more than £18 million.

The original contract awarded in November 2019 to construction company Willmott Dixon, had a price tag of £10.2 million for delivery of the scheme. The completion date was originally scheduled for May 2021.

Chartered geologist and town planner Dr Alan Thompson, who was the principal author of a major report on the city’s subsidence issues, has said the site will always carry a “significant residual risk” of problems.

Dr Thompson added that by not considering relocating to a new site, the council was “ploughing more and more money into a scheme which is destined to fail”.

He has sent a letter by email to council chief executive Wallace Sampson and all cabinet members expressing his concerns.

But the council’s cabinet looks set to vote in favour of further expenditure on remediation works at the site, after issuing a statement a week ago, in which it said:

“Harrogate Borough Council is set to ensure people in Ripon can keep fit and active for years to come by carrying out ground stabilisation works underneath the original leisure centre.”

The statement added:

“Since the leisure centre was first built in 1995, there has been a monumental improvement in engineering technology to assess ground conditions. The contractor has used this technology to produce a comprehensive report and programme of work, which will be provided to the cabinet.

“If approved by the cabinet on 17 August, the investment project is due to start in the autumn. Once the stabilisation works are complete – anticipated to be the following autumn – the first floor of the original leisure centre will reopen.”

The council’s view is considerably at odds with Dr Thompson’s opinion on the situation.

Stantec report finally revealed

The chartered geologist and town planner, whose comprehensive 1996 Ripon gypsum report was funded jointly by central government and Harrogate Borough Council, has spoken out, after studying detailed reports completed in June by consultants Stantec into ground and structural conditions at the leisure centre site.

Ripon Leisure Centre

The reports, which were obtained following a Freedom of Information request to the council by Ripon resident and chartered engineer Stanley Mackintosh, were supplied to Dr Thompson, who said the documents:

“Have confirmed in great detail what was already known: that the leisure centre was built on very unstable land.

“They have also brought into sharp focus just how unstable it is, with the piled foundations deteriorating at an alarming rate, as a direct consequence of the ongoing nature of the subsidence processes.

“These findings have substantial implications in terms of the costs of further investigation and remediation, adding to those which have already been incurred.

“Disturbingly, however, the remediation which is being proposed — similar to that which has already been implemented beneath the new pool — cannot resolve the underlying cause of the problem: that of ongoing gypsum dissolution at depths of around 40 metres beneath the site.

“However much money is poured into this site, there will always be a significant ‘residual risk’ because of the unresolved problem of dissolution.”

Dr Thompson added:

“Astonishingly, the option of relocation has been excluded from consideration, for the stated reason that it is “not considered by Harrogate Borough Council to offer a more cost-effective approach”.

“By not allowing that option to even be considered, Harrogate Borough Council has blatantly tilted the balance in favour of ploughing more and more money into a scheme which is destined to fail. “

‘Outrageous failure’

In a direct appeal to Mr Sampson, Dr Thompson added:

“I would therefore urge you – and the council – to get a ‘reality check’ on what is going on here – in particular, the council’s outrageous failure to benchmark the escalating costs against the option of relocation.

“At the very least, proper, professional and independent consideration needs to be given to the concept of relocating the leisure centre and the new pool to an alternative site which is not affected by gypsum-related subsidence.

“Only by doing that, and by factoring the residual risk of staying at Camp Close into the equation, can the true cost-effectiveness of the options be properly compared.”

Read more:

• Ground remediation under Ripon Leisure Centre to cost £3.5 million
• Plan to open temporary gym at Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre
• Ripon leisure scheme, overdue and over budget

The Stray Ferret put Dr Thompson’s concerns to Harrogate Borough Council.

In response, a council spokesperson said: 

“Our consulting engineer has previously stated that in their professional opinion a do-nothing approach is not advised. And although there is no immediate change in the geological risk profile to the building – that was originally built in 1995 and has provided sport and leisure services for more than 25 years – it is recommended that ground stabilisation works are undertaken.

“Therefore, in order to ensure people in Ripon can keep fit and active for years to come, we plan on carrying out these necessary ground stabilisation works in the coming months.

“We’d also like to reaffirm these works are underneath the original leisure centre and not underneath the new six-lane 25metre swimming, which has had the necessary foundations in place.”

The children of Ripon are paying the price for Harrogate Borough Council’s ‘incompetent handling’ of the multi-million pound leisure centre project.

That’s the view of Ripon City Council, which backed a call from Independent leader Andrew Williams for immediate action to make the overgrown playing fields at the Camp Close site useable in time for the summer holidays.

Councillors also called for barriers, restricting access to the bike and skate park on site, to be removed so that proper access is restored. Some fencing has been forced down by young people wanting to use the facility (pictured above).

The centre opened behind schedule and over budget in March.

The council also agreed on Monday evening, to make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to HBC for a key report to be made public to discover the financial liability that council tax payers face for remedial work to leisure centre foundations.

The report, which was prepared by engineering consultancy Stantec,  was received by HBC more than two months ago, prior to the local elections in May, but has yet to be presented to the council’s cabinet.

Overgrown and yet to be landscaped, the playing fields.

Cllr Williams, who was elected to represent Ripon at parish and North Yorkshire level, claimed:

“There is a clear attempt to suppress this report and literally kick it into the leisure centre’s long grass.

“But the public has a right to know the full financial consequences, before the successor authority has to deal with the mess of HBC’s incompetent handling of the project from the outset, starting with their decision to build on a site with a known history of ground instability.”

What was promised and what has been delivered?

The £10.2 million contract signed with construction company Willmott Dixon in November 2019, was for delivery of the new pool, a refurbished leisure centre, creation of a children’s playground, landscaping of the site, reinstatement of a football pitch, provision of parking for vehicles and bicycles and installation of electric car charging points.

To date, the pool, children’s playground, parking facilities and charging points, have been delivered, but only the gym on the upper floor of the leisure centre is open, with activities, such as spin classes relocated to the Hugh Ripley Hall.

The agreed completion date for the contract was May 2021, but delays caused by ground instability meant extensive grouting (injection of concrete) had to take place which held up the opening of the pool until March of this year.

Reluctance to release the Stantec report

Following an initial inspection by Stantec of a ‘void’ near the entrance to the leisure centre, discovered during construction work in September 2020, the consultancy was appointed to carry out a detailed investigation of the foundations.

In April, chartered engineer and Ripon resident Stanley Mackintosh, submitted an FOI request to HBC, seeking release of the Stantec report, but despite repeated attempts to obtain a copy, he still awaits their decision on whether or not the report will be released to him.

Escalating costs

Mr Mackintosh, pointed out:

“The known running total for the project as of September 2021, was standing at £14,590,665 and In my opinion, considerable additional monies will be needed to carry out the extremely complex  works.

“This is because the foundations will need to be thickened from 200mm to 750mm, and superstructure modifications will be required to improve the structural stiffness of the building.

“It’s a very costly exercise to carry out under an existing building and even then, long-term sustainability cannot be guaranteed, because of the on-going underground gypsum dissolution that will continue to occur.”

He pointed out:

“Ground instability will be a constant feature in this area of Ripon, as evidenced by the opening up of a sinkhole in February 2018 on the leisure centre car park and the discovery of a further sinkhole close to the centre’s entrance in September 2020.

Chartered civil engineer Stanley Mackintosh, pictured outside the site before the swimming pool opened

“The actual remediation costs will only be known when the findings of the Stantec report are released and I have been attempting, under FOI legislation, to obtain a copy of that report, but the council appears reluctant to let me have it.”

“This stonewalling is a classic case of kicking the can down the road, because the council knows that there will be significant financial implications for council tax payers, long after HBC’s affairs have been taken over by the new North Yorkshire Council next April.”

What does Harrogate Borough Council have to say?

HBC has confirmed that the Stantec report has not been presented to its cabinet members.

A spokesperson, said in a statement:

“The report, and recommendations, will be presented to the meeting of the cabinet in due course.”

The spokesperson also confirmed that the council considers that remedial works that will need to be carried out under the centre are a financially viable proposition.

Asked when the landscaping works and restoration of the football pitch will be carried out, so that children can use the area for recreation once more, the spokesperson didn’t give any specific dates, but said:

“This work will be completed towards the end of the investment project at the leisure and wellbeing centre.”

Read more:

• Ripon pool opening delayed again
• Sinkhole experts urge councillors to consider new site for Ripon pool
• Thumbs up for new Dallamires playground in Ripon

A year after four Ripon homes had to be evacuated because of subsidence, the owners are continuing to press for settlement of a long-standing insurance claim.

Fears of a building collapse at the 35-year-old Bedern Court scheme on Skellgarths have increased following a new report by a monitoring engineer.

Leaseholders and owners feel they have been put in a desperate situation caused by circumstances beyond their control.

The claim is currently with global insurance company Arch, and while owners and tenants of the four affected properties hope for good news, the engineer’s report has highlighted a worsening situation exacerbated by sinkhole activity in the area.

Four homes at Bedern Court have remained empty after being evacuated a year ago

Mat Pritchard, chairperson of Bedern Court Ltd (BCL) – a non-profit company controlled by owners and leaseholders with houses and apartments in the 29-unit development – told the Stray Ferret:

“The report from our monitoring engineer indicates that the ground movement is still ongoing, and appears to be speeding up.

“The risk of catastrophic collapse has ratcheted upwards and we are now seriously worried that the block could be very close to some kind of tipping point.

“We greatly fear a situation where it does collapse or partially collapse, and someone gets killed or injured.”

In addition to the monitoring report, BCL commissioned a separate investigation from a geotechnical engineering practice.

This looked at the history of the site and concluded that the subsidence issues experienced there do constitute an insurable risk that should be covered by insurance.

The report was sent to Arch in June and Mr Pritchard, who owns one of the affected properties with his wife Jane, said:

“We have been in very regular contact with the insurers in an attempt to get this matter resolved as swiftly as possible, but we are still waiting.

“All authorities, including the parish, district and county councils, have been contacted by us and kept updated.

“We have taken all of the measures that we can, but feel that we are rapidly running out of time.”

Ripon’s new multi-million pound leisure development may not be ready to open in November, as previously indicated.

The scheme, for which known costs were in excess of £10.2 million before a six-month delay was announced last year, was originally scheduled to open this summer.

Last autumn, a press release by Harrogate Borough Council said the development at Camp Close, off Dallamires Lane, would open in November.

But in an update issued by the council a spokesperson, said:

“We can confirm the new swimming pool in Ripon is due to open towards the end of the year.

“An official opening date will be confirmed in the coming weeks once the facility has been handed-over by Willmott Dixon, our appointed contractor carrying out the works.”

An ‘opening in summer 2021’ sign was later replaced by one saying ‘opening in autumn 2021’.

The statement, added:

“Following this handover, we will carry out the necessary staff training and rigorous testing to prepare the new facility for opening.

“The addition of the new swimming pool is a major development for Ripon and the surrounding area and we’re delighted to announce that it will be officially opened later this autumn.”

£10.2m contract

A £10.2 million contract was awarded to Willmott Dixon before work started on site in November 2019.

The 17-month contact was for delivery of a six-lane pool, along with refurbishment of the existing Ripon Leisure Centre.

This specified a completion date of 21 May this year, but this was later amended to November.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport said, at the time, that the project had been ‘slightly delayed’ by covid.

In the release dated 13 November, he added:

“Ground work, known as grouting, is nearing completion.”

Ground stability issues

Cllr Lumley’s statement came two months after a ‘void’ was discovered near the entrance to the existing leisure centre building, which was constructed in the mid 1990s.

A previous sinkhole that opened up in February 2018 caused the closure of the leisure centre car park and despite concerns raised about the suitability of the Camp Close site for addition of a swimming pool, the scheme was granted approval at a council planning meeting in June 2019.

Following discovery of the second ‘void’  Stantec, an international engineering, design and consultancy practice, carried out an initial inspection and in a report, seen by the Stray Ferret, raised concerns about the load-bearing capacity of existing piles under the leisure centre, which would have been used to support the connection between it and the new pool.

Read more:

• Additional Ripon swimming pool cost ‘confidential’
• Final cost of Ripon leisure development ‘not yet known’

What will the final cost be?

The Stray Ferret has submitted two Freedom of Information requests to the council in an attempt to establish what additional costs have been incurred, on top of the original £10.2 million contract for the scheme.

In its response to the first request, the council said that the information it held was ‘confidential’. In its response to the second request, it said ‘the final costs are not yet known.’

A tidy-up is underway at a central Ripon location where a sinkhole prevented new homes from being built.

The Stray Ferret understands the area in Allhallowgate will remain as green open space for the public to enjoy. Further details are expected shortly.

Grey hoardings around the site were taken down yesterday as part of the proposed makeover.

Harrogate Borough Council was set to build 17 homes to replace a block of flats in poor condition on Allhallowgate.

However, serious ground stability issues came to light during demolition of the existing properties and the project was scrapped in 2019.

The proposed scheme was backed with funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government but the sinkhole made the development economically unviable.

The site, pictured in February before the tidy-up began

The area remained dormant. Hoardings were erected and an entry gateway was chained and locked.

In February, Ripon councillor Mike Chambers, Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet member for housing and safer communities, told the Stray Ferret:

“The area is going to be tidied up, levelled, re-seeded and greened to improve its appearance.

“It has become overgrown and the hoardings are a bit the worse for wear.”

With the removal of the hoardings, the extent of the tidy-up operation has become evident.

Bushes and overgrown foliage have been cut back and grass is starting to grow.

Removal of the hoardings started yesterday

Residents of the demolished block were all permanently re-housed by Harrogate Borough Council and funding has been allocated for extensive refurbishment and improvement of the remaining Allhallowgate block, which is due to start shortly.

Ripon’s gypsum issue

Ground instability problems caused by the soluble nature of gypsum have been seen in many parts of Ripon.

The Stray Ferret reported in October about the evacuation of a residential block at Bedern Court, caused by subsidence in the area.

In February 2018, a sinkhole opened up on the car park of Ripon Leisure Centre, off Dallamires Lane. A further void discovered near the leisure centre entrance a year ago is under investigation.

In 2016, a dozen homes in Magdalen’s Road were evacuated after a 66-foot wide sinkhole opened up.

Read more:

• Ripon BID chairman’s confidence in the city
• Why were the Royal Engineers marching through Ripon?

A Ripon councillor who voted in favour of the city’s new swimming pool and leisure centre refurbishment, is now supporting calls for an independent investigation into the scheme.

Sid Hawke was one of eight councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee that approved an application two years ago for a new six-lane pool to be built alongside the existing leisure centre, which would be refurbished.

But following fresh concerns about sinkholes, Cllr Hawke, an independent who represents Ripon Ure Bank on Harrogate Borough Council, told the Stray Ferret:

“If I knew then, what I know now, I would have definitely voted against it.

“I’ve wanted a new swimming pool for Ripon for years, but the public interest must come first.

“I fully support an independent investigation looking into safety issues, so we can get them all sorted out.”

Also on the planning committee, which met on June 25, 2019, was Pat Marsh, the Liberal Democrat leader on Harrogate Borough Council, who was one of three councillors to abstain. Conservative councillor Nigel Simms voted against, because of misgivings about the suitability of the site two years ago.

Last week Cllr Marsh called for an independent investigation into the multi-million pound development at Camp Close, off Dallamires Lane.

Her comments followed safety concerns raised in a report by the multi-national consultancy Stantec, which were amplified by Dr Alan Thompson, a leading authority on the gypsum and sinkhole issues affecting all types of development in the Ripon area.

Cllr Pat Marsh

Cllr Marsh’s call came in the wake of the Stray Ferret’s exclusive story about safety concerns that came to light after Stantec’s inspection of a cavity discovered close to the leisure centre entrance in September.

The cavity, in the area where the new pool is due to be attached to the existing leisure centre, is in close proximity to a sinkhole that opened up on the centre car park.

That sinkhole arose 16 months before the planning meeting where the new pool was voted through.

Cllr Marsh, said:

“I’m pleased that Cllr Hawke supports my call for an investigation and I hope that other Ripon councillors will follow suite.

“The people of Ripon deserve a new pool — but there have been long-term ground stability issues in this area, as I know from the time when the leisure centre was being built.

“With this in mind, I couldn’t vote for further development at Camp Close as I thought that other site options should have been considered.

“We will see what the investigation commissioned by Harrogate Borough Council says about the cavity and then press for an independent safety investigation.”

A spokesperson for Harrogate Borough Council said last week:

“The multi-million pound investment project at Ripon Leisure Centre shows our commitment to providing modern, fit-for-purpose leisure facilities for the people of Ripon.

“Given the well-known ground conditions in Ripon, we employed qualified and experienced geologists and geo-technic engineers to carry out necessary investigation works and advise on what would be required to provide this much needed facility.

“A total of 441 grouting sites received 3,043 tonnes of grout which, along with the casting of a reinforced concrete slab, provides the foundation for the new swimming pool building.

“The void which is underneath the existing leisure centre is understood to have been present a number of years. This was only discovered as a result of the work to prepare the new swimming pool site.

Read more:

• Portrait of Olympic hero Jack is inspiring Ripon students
• Ripon hornblowers  return to round of applause

“It is now being investigated and should any remedial work be required then it will be carried out.

“We are committed to providing this much-needed facility that will encourage a healthier and more active lifestyle for our residents and something they can be proud of.”

The leader of the  Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council has called for an independent investigation into the building of Ripon’s new swimming pool and existing leisure centre after a leading authority on ground stability in Ripon raised serious safety concerns.

Earlier this week the Stray Ferret revealed that geologist Dr Alan Thompson, an expert on the city’s long-standing gypsum and sink hole problems, had sent a strongly worded letter to councillors to highlight his concerns.

His letter referred to an inspection carried out by global consultancy firm Stantec into a “cavity” that appeared near the entrance to the existing leisure centre building in September 2020.

Dr Thompson wrote that he had to intervene as he feared Harrogate Borough Council  was not taking ground stability issues raised within the inspection seriously enough.

Read our exclusive report about Dr Thompson’s concerns and the Stantec report. 

Cllr Pat Marsh, who is the leader of the Liberal Democrats on Harrogate Borough Council, told the Stray Ferret:

“I am not a geologist or engineer but when I read that report I did see that there were some concerns about the leisure centre. I hope they are being addressed.

“That site has always been a concern. It was not easy reading. We need to do a thorough investigation because we are putting lives at risk if we don’t.

“I am now beginning to think fresh eyes would be good to make sure it is safe. We can’t just push this to one side, it is a serious issue.”

Read more:

• Serious safety concerns after Ripon Leisure Centre report
• Ripon Leisure Centre history – grounds for concern

Cllr Pauline McHardy, of Ripon Independents whose ward the leisure centre falls under, said she was “very concerned” by the report.

She said:

“I think its is very concerning, they [the council] are spending an awful lot of money on it.

“What also concerns me is that who is going to responsible for it if we go to a unitary authority?”

Cllr Stan Lumley, who is the conservative cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, told the Stray Ferret what he made of the report:

“It’s a tricky one really. Obviously we are absolutely committed to building the new pool and renovating the existing leisure centre.

“There is a history of ground conditions we were completely aware of. We had taken professional advice to mitigate as far as possible any problems on the site.

“We have invested a great deal of money to get the area safe and prepared for construction. We are now investigating and will address any issues that come up.”

On Tuesday Harrogate Borough Council responded Stray Ferret questions about Dr Thompson’s concerns by issuing a statement:

“Given the well-known ground conditions in Ripon, we employed qualified and experienced geologists and geo-technic engineers to carry out necessary investigation works and advice on what would be required to provide this much need facility.

“A total of 441 grouting sites received 3,043 tonnes of grout which, along with the casting of a reinforced concrete slab, provides the foundation for the new swimming pool building.

“The void which is underneath the existing leisure centre is understood to have been present a number of years. This was only discovered as a result of the work to prepare the new swimming pool site.

“It is now being investigated and should any remedial work be required then it will be carried out.