Killinghall Nomads Junior Football Club has called for the council to honour former player Rachel Daly.

Harrogate-born Rachel is a key part of the England team that has reached Sunday’s Women’s World Cup final against Spain.

She was also part of the Lionesses side that won the European Championships last summer, and won the Golden Boot for being the Women’s Super League top scorer this year.

Her achievements were completely overlooked by Harrogate Borough Council, which was abolished at the end of March.

The Killinghall club has now called for the new North Yorkshire Council to put that right, preferably by renaming Harrogate Hydro, which is due to reopen next month, as the Rachel Daly Leisure and Wellness Centre.

Mary Beggs-Reid, the club’s media manager, said:

“After all Rachel has achieved, surely the council can name something after her.

“She’s inspired a nation – surely as a town we should honour her?

“The club and town are special to her. We need to show her how special she is to us.”

A huge crowd greeted Daly when she returned to open the club cafe in May.

The Hydro is due to reopen as the Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre. But Harrogate Borough Council set a precedent by renaming Ripon Leisure Centre the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in honour of the Ripon diver’s achievements, including an Olympic gold medal.

Killinghall Nomads want the new council to do similar by renaming the Hydro — which is close to the club’s grounds — after the local superstar.

Daly returned to Killinghall Nomads in May to officially open the Nomads Daly Brew Cafe , which was named after her.

But the club feels it’s time for the council to step-up — and the Stray Ferret agrees.

We are therefore backing the campaign and have asked North Yorkshire Council whether it will support the call to honour Daly — preferably by naming the Hydro after her.

John Plummer, editor of the Stray Ferret, said:

“It’s great that the council honoured Jack Laugher — there is now an overwhelming case to do the same with Rachel Daly.

“What better way to do this than by renaming the leisure centre, which is close to Killinghall Nomads’ grounds, after a local star who has inspired millions of people to get active?”

Read more:

• World Cup hero Rachel Daly in line for player of year award
• Harrogate’s Rachel Daly wins golden boot
• From Harrogate to New York to the World Cup – Rachel Daly’s ‘whirlwind’ career

A delay in opening Harrogate Hydro due to “unplanned work” will see no change in its budget, council officials have said.

The Hydro is undergoing a £13.5 million refurbishment and will welcome customers back under the new name Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.

However, North Yorkshire Council confirmed last week that the centre will not re-open until after the school summer holidays. It had been planned to open in August.

In a statement, Nic Harne, corporate director for community development at the council, said the Hydro’s reopening would be delayed until September due to “unplanned works being required”.

He added:

“Refurbishment projects often uncover historic issues that need to be resolved and this complex construction is no different.”

The Stray Ferret asked the council what the unplanned works are and whether this would cost the council any more than its budgeted £13.5 million for the project.

A spokesperson for the authority said:

“There is no one thing, it is a culmination of works discovered during the complex refit.”

They added that there would be no change to the budget for the scheme.

Read more:

• Confirmed: Harrogate Hydro to reopen after school holidays
• Cost of delayed Harrogate Hydro refurbishment increases by £1m

The leisure centre in Jennyfields closed in April last year for what was supposed to be a nine-month refurbishment costing £11.9 million.

But January’s scheduled re-opening did not happen. In May, North Yorkshire Council said the cost of the scheme had risen to £13.5 million and customers would be welcomed back in August.

However, Mr Harne said previously the Knaresborough scheme was still due to re-open later this year.

Mr Harne said:

“The new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre remains on-track to open in November.”

North Yorkshire Council has confirmed Harrogate Hydro will not re-open until after the school summer holidays.

The Hydro is undergoing a £13.5 million refurbishment and will welcome customers back under the new name Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.

With schools set to break-up today, many families would have been looking forward to using the swimming pool, which has now been closed for 15 months.

But the Stray Ferret revealed this week that was unlikely to happen.

Nic Harne, corporate director for community development at the council, has now confirmed:

“We had hoped that the Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre would be open in late August but, unfortunately, due to unplanned works being required, it will now be early September.

“Refurbishment projects often uncover historic issues that need to be resolved and this complex construction is no different.

The leisure centre in Jennyfields closed in April last year for what was supposed to be a nine-month refurbishment costing £11.9 million.

But January’s scheduled re-opening did not happen. In May, North Yorkshire Council said the cost of the scheme had risen to £13.5 million and customers would be welcomed back in August.

Now the scheme has been pushed back again but there was better luck for leisure centre users in Knaresborough, with news that the town’s new facility has not been further delayed.

Mr Harne said:

“The new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre remains on-track to open in November.”

Read more:

• Another Harrogate Hydro delay appears to rule out summer holiday swimming
• Harrogate heavyweights out in force at Selby by-election

Two major local leisure centre projects in Harrogate and Knaresborough have been delayed — and will cost more than expected.

The new North Yorkshire Council gave its first update on the refurbishment of Harrogate Hydro and the construction of Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre today.

It revealed the Hydro is now due to re-open in August following a £13.5 million refurbishment.

The facility, which will be renamed Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre, was originally due to re-open in January this year and the project was due to cost £11.8 million.

But it now won’t be open for the start of the summer holidays.

A council statement today said:

“It had been hoped the new facility would be ready to open earlier in the summer but a number of unanticipated issues with the building were found during the construction process.”

The new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre is due to open in November at a cost of £17.6 million.

The project was initially due to re-open at the end of summer and cost £17 million.

The existing Knaresborough Pool was due to be demolished once the new facility was open.

But to keep construction costs as low as possible, the current pool will close and start to be demolished in early September following the opening of the Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.

It means Knaresborough is likely to be without a pool for two months.

Hydro overhaul

Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre will include a 400 square metre fitness centre, a new sauna and steam suite, improved reception and café, as well an overhaul of the existing gym, spin, leisure and swimming facilities.

The diving structure is also being replaced.

Outside, the building is being remodelled to provide a reconfigured car park, bicycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.

The existing gas boilers have already been replaced with air-source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, as well as new metering and energy monitoring and control systems.

Read more:

• Cost of delayed Harrogate Hydro refurbishment increases by £1m
• £28m contracts for new Knaresborough pool and Harrogate Hydro upgrades approved

The energy efficiency measures were made possible by a £1.8 million grant from the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy public sector decarbonisation scheme, and will halve the carbon footprint of the leisure centre.

The latest delay to the re-opening is to allow improvements to the fire protection of the steel frame, as well as the addition of new wall restraints, the replacement of corroded steelwork and fixing an issue that was causing an air leak and heat loss between the roof and the external walls.]

Today’s statement added:

“As a result of this additional work, the refurbishment project at Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre is now set to be completed by the end of July and will reopen in August, once staff from Brimhams Active have had a chance to familiarise themselves with the health and safety and operating procedures of the improved facility.

“Further details about the official opening will be announced in the coming months.”

Six-lane pool in Knaresborough

Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre, which is being built next to the current Knaresborough Pool, will include a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

It will incorporate high-efficiency building materials, air source heat pumps and solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint.

Today’s update said:

“Unfortunately, due to an unavoidable delay involving the new electrical supply to the building, the leisure and wellness centre will now open in November.

Once the existing pool has been demolished, a new play area in front of the new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre will be installed.

Cllr Simon Myers, the council’s executive member for culture, arts and housing, said:

“We want to ensure a healthier, more active population that is living longer and more independently. By investing in leisure facilities, such as this, we can continue to make that happen.

“Unfortunately, refurbishment projects often uncover historic issues that need to be resolved. But by carrying out the work now, the building can conform to the latest legislation, be as energy-efficient as possible and allow people to keep fit and active for many years to come.”

A new council is set to take over in the Harrogate district next week.

Both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council will make way for North Yorkshire Council on April 1.

Brimhams Active, an arms length company owned by Harrogate Borough Council, currently runs leisure services in the district.

In this article, we explain what will happen to leisure facilities under the new North Yorkshire Council.

Who currently runs leisure facilities in the district?

Currently, Brimhams Active operates leisure facilities in the Harrogate district.

The company was set up in August 2020 to run swimming pools and leisure centres.

This includes Harrogate Hydro, Knaresborough Pool, Starbeck Baths and the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon.

Brimhams Active has also overseen major projects, such as the redevelopment of the Harrogate Hydro swimming pool and the construction of new facilities in Ripon and Knaresborough.

What will happen under the new council?

As of April 1, Brimhams Active will transfer over to North Yorkshire Council.

The new council will add Selby’s leisure services to the Brimhams Active portfolio from September 2024.

North Yorkshire Council will also undertake a £120,000 review of leisure services with the aim of creating a countywide model for delivering leisure and sport by 2027.

While people who use the centres may not see an immediate change, the ownership of the company will be different.

Read more:

• Explained: Who will make planning decisions in Harrogate district after devolution?
• Explained: What happens to bin collections in Harrogate after devolution?

In this article, which is part of a series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look at the district’s ongoing multi-million pound leisure projects.

Spades hit the ground this year as an overhaul of leisure services in the district continued.

Since taking over the reigns of facilities in 2021, Brimhams Active has slowly pressed on with shaping a new look leisure offering.

Harrogate Borough Council is spending more than £40 million on new pools in Ripon and Knaresborough and on a major refurbishment of The Hydro in Harrogate.

Those projects made progress this year, although the saga over Ripon’s ground instability coloured the debate over whether the site was suitable for a new pool.

The investment in leisure is the largest the district has seen.

In Harrogate, the Hydro will be expanded and in Knaresborough an entirely new facility will be built.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret in March, Mark Tweedie, director of Brimhams, said he expects the transition to the new pool to be “seamless”.

Both projects are set to cost around £28 million.

Delays and cost hikes

But, while they represent ambitious schemes, they have not been plain sailing.

The reopening of the Hydro has been delayed and is set to cost more than originally planned.

This month the borough council revealed it is set to cost £12.8 million – £1 million more than planned.

Cllr Stanley Lumley, Cllr Phil Ireland, Alliance Leisure business development manager Sean Nolan and ISG project manager Julian Donnelly outside the Knaresborough Leisure Centre construction.

Meanwhile, the facility is not expected to reopen until the summer.

The opening of a gym at Ripon has also been beset by delays as the council carries out ground stability work.

On top of that, a temporary gym which is expected to be put in place during the works will not arrive until the new year.

Despite the issues in Ripon, the decision to build on the site was defended by Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the borough council, amid concern over the future of the centre due to instability.

While the projects may be ambitious, the revolution over leisure in the district is taking time to come to fruition.

Read more:

• Delayed opening for temporary gym at Ripon leisure centre
• Ripon Leisure Centre ground works will cost £3.5 million

Harrogate Borough Council has revealed the cost of Harrogate Hydro‘s delayed refurbishment has increased by about £1 million to about £12.8 million.

The Stray Ferret reported this month the reopening of the leisure facility, originally scheduled for next month, had been pushed back until summer next year.

The council said this was due to discovering “some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place”.

In a press release today, the council gave a breakdown of the additional costs, which will be met by taxpayers. They are:

• Replacement of the defective external soffit boarding – £306,893
• Renewal of the existing moveable floor in the diving pool – £299,918
• Replacement of corroded steel frame elements – £330,258.66

The refurbished Hydro will include a pool, new diving structure, 400 square metre fitness suite, sauna and steam suite and new reception and café, as well as a reconfigured car park, bicycle storage and electric vehicle charging points.

The existing gas boilers have been replaced with air-source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, along with new metering and energy monitoring and control systems, which are expected to halve the carbon footprint of the leisure centre.

How the Hydro used to look.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of the board of directors at the council-controlled Brimhams Active, said:

“At a time when some local authorities across the country are reviewing their investments in leisure facilities, we remain committed to ensuring people across the Harrogate district can keep fit and active for many years to come.

“By carrying out this additional work now, while the facility is closed, we can ensure the building is fit for purpose and can conform to the latest legislation and building regulations.

“And at a time of increasing energy costs, we are helping to offset this by making the leisure centre as energy-efficient as possible. And thanks to a government grant of some £1.8million, it will be able to utilise renewal energy.”

The council added the new leisure and wellness centre In Knaresborough was on target to open at the end next summer.

It will provide a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

Read more:

• Harrogate Hydro reopening delayed until summer
• Harrogate council company to run leisure centres in Selby
• Harrogate leisure chief defends Ripon pool location amid ground stability concern

The reopening of Harrogate Hydro has been delayed until summer next year.

The swimming pool and leisure centre closed in April for an £11.8 million refurbishment.

At the time, the pool hall and changing rooms were due to re-open next month and the ‘dry side’ activity space was expected to welcome visitors in April.

The pool opening date was later pushed back until May. But in a post on its Facebook page this week the venue said it is now due to open in summer.

The facility will get a two-storey extension as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area and sauna and steam suite.

There will also be new diving board equipment, a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

How the Hydro is looking.

The Hydro, which is run by Harrogate Borough Council-controlled leisure company Brimhams Active, said in its Facebook post that work was “well underway”. It added:

“As is often the case when refurbishing an existing building, we have discovered some additional areas of work that could only have come to light when the building was closed and a strip-out of the internal fabric had taken place.

“This includes some improvements to the fire protection of the steel frame, replacement of corroded steelwork, replacement of soffit boarding, and resolution of air leakage and heat loss between the roof and the external walls. As well as some work to ensure the building conforms to the latest legislation and is as energy-efficient as possible.

“Despite everything being done to minimise delays to the project, we now anticipate opening our doors once again next summer (date TBC). But by carrying out the work now, we will be able to ensure people across the Harrogate district can keep fit and active for many years to come.”

The Stray Ferret has asked the council if the “additional areas of work” will mean the cost of the project has risen. We have not received a response at the time of publication.

Read more:

• Pictures show progress of £28m Harrogate Hydro and Knaresborough Leisure Centre works
• Harrogate’s free Christmas lights extravaganza to be switched on today

One person commented in response on Facebook about the length of time Harrogate swimmers would have to travel to Ripon to use another council pool:

“This is going to be well over a year swimmers in the north of the town have been without a pool, and ‘summer (tbc)’ isn’t inspiring me with a lot of confidence.

“Driving to Ripon (actually quicker than trying to get through traffic to Starbeck or Knaresborough) isn’t a particularly appealing prospect on a foggy/icy winter morning, nor is it very green.”

Another person said the wait would be worth it.

“Ah well a least another seven months travelling through to Ripon. If it’s going to be as good as Ripon, really looking forward to it reopening.”

The council, which will be abolished in April, is also spending £17 million on a new leisure centre in Knaresborough, which will have a six-lane swimming pool, health spa and fitness studios.

It is being built behind the existing Knaresborough Pool which will be demolished.