North Yorkshire Council has said it has no plans to build a learner pool in Ripon following calls by local councillors and residents.

There have been hopes in the city that a facility to help children under four learn to swim could be built by the new council despite the now-abolished Harrogate Borough Council opening the £18m Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Dallamires Lane only two years ago.

The new facility has a six-lane pool — but not a smaller pool.

Critics say this forces families with young children to go to Knaresborough, Harrogate or even further afield for swimming lessons.

Parents who formed Ripon Pool Action Group published a survey last year that found there are over 1,000 children of pre-school age living in the Ripon area that could benefit from a learner pool.

At a meeting of Ripon City Council last week, council leader Andrew Williams, who also sits on North Yorkshire Council as an independent, said the city council would be writing to the new authority asking it to commit to building the pool.

But Nic Harne, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of community development, said the new council, which is looking to make savings, has no plans to build a learner pool.

Mr Harne said: 

“Residents will understand that it is extremely expensive to build and maintain swimming pools so the right thing to do is to ensure that there are safe and secure facilities to meet the local demand.

“Therefore, we have no plans to build a learner pool in Ripon.”

Leisure facilities in Ripon are run by Brimhams Active, an arm’s length company set up by Harrogate Borough Council.

North Yorkshire Council, which now owns Brimhams Active, has pledged to undertake a £120,000 review of leisure services with the aim of creating a countywide model for delivering leisure and sport by 2027.

Mr Harne added: 

“As we bring together our leisure provision under the new council, we are reviewing all our facilities across the county to ensure they continue meet the needs of their communities.”

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Councillors in Ripon have called on the new North Yorkshire Council to build a learner pool so children aged under four can learn to swim in the city.

Last year, Harrogate Borough Council opened the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Dallamires Lane to replace the city’s 116-year-old Spa Baths.

However, the project has been dogged by controversy due to spiralling costs related to concerns about sinkholes.

The current cost of the project is estimated to be £18m — which is £8m over-budget.

The now-abolished council was also criticised for not building a smaller pool alongside the main pool.

It does offer swimming lessons through arms-length council leisure company Brimhams Active but they take place in the six-lane, 25-metre pool that is designed for adults and older children.

This means families have to take young children to Knaresborough, Harrogate or even further afield for swimming lessons.

At a meeting of Ripon City Council on Monday night, council leader Andrew Williams, who also sits on North Yorkshire Council as an independent, said the city council would be writing to the new authority asking it to commit to building a learner pool in Ripon.

He said: 

”It’s a very sad fact that Harrogate Borough Council when considering building a new pool couldn’t find the £630,000 that was needed to provide Ripon with a learner pool, the same as children in Knaresborough and Harrogate have.

”Instead, we were told that this was unaffordable but they could find £8m to fund incompetence and overspend. I find that incredible. It’s just a sad record of Harrogate council’s inability to deliver anything properly.”

Read more:

• ‘Undemocratic’ to ask Harrogate residents to pay for town council without stating its powers
• Harrogate leisure chief defends Ripon pool location amid ground stability concern

Parents who formed Ripon Pool Action Group have campaigned for a learner pool in the city for several years and last year published a survey that found there are over 1,000 children of pre-school age living in the Ripon area.

The survey suggested there was a demand for a learner pool with 63% of parents saying they would swim with their children once a week if Ripon had one.

Cllr Pauline McHardy, who on Harrogate Borough Council was an outspoken critic of the leisure centre project in Ripon, said she backed the bid to build a learner pool.

She said:

”I raised this at Harrogate council and said it was disgusting they couldn’t find money for the learner pool.”

North Yorkshire Council has been approached for comment.

A group that unsuccessfully lobbied Harrogate Borough Council in a bid to have a learner pool built in Ripon estimates that up to 1,000 of the city’s children have yet to be taught how to swim.

In 2018, before planning permission was granted  for construction of the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre, Ripon Pool Action Group (RPAG) called for a learner pool to be included in the multi-million pound development at Dallamires Lane.

Though that call was rejected, the group continues to highlight the need for families in Ripon to have public facilities available that are close at hand and affordable.

At the February meeting of Ripon City Council, RPAG secretary Tim Tribe and Andrea McAuslan presented the case for a learner pool to be included in any future plans that the new unitary authority North Yorkshire Council, may have for the development of leisure facilities in the city.

Mr Tribe said:

“We recognise that there are currently serious pressures on public finances. We are not asking for a learner pool to be built now, but we want to ensure that the new unitary authority is properly briefed on this situation.

“Ripon is the only place of its size in North Yorkshire with no learner pool. Thirsk, Tadcaster, Northallerton, Stokesley and Skipton all have separate pools and we ask how far do you think our children should travel to learn such an important life skill, when we live in an area surrounded by water?”

Mr Tribe added:

“We carried out a survey using Survey Monkey and this showed that there are circa 1,000 children in Ripon in need of swimming lessons.”

Because of the lack of a public learner pool in Ripon, Andrea and Ian McAuslan have been taking their five-year-old twins to Thirsk.

Ms McAuslan said:

“We have been making the 22-mile round trip and are fortunate that we can afford to do this, but many other families are not so lucky.

“Seeing how our children reacted when they realised that they could go in the little pool at Thirsk was a real eye opener. It has been great to see their confidence grow as they learn to swim while they play in the shallow water.”

Ms McAuslan, who is also chair of the junior section of the Ripon-based NYP TriStars, triathlon club, added:

“Quite apart from the need to teach children to swim in a city that has three rivers, a canal and other areas of water, it is a skill that is fundamental to opening up other avenues for them.”