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25
May 2024
See how Ripon leisure scheme costs rocketed to £20 million
A sign saying that Ripon's new swimming pool and refurbished leisure centre will be 'opening in Summer 2021' was still in place this week.
In December 2020, the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council had signage on hoardings at Dallamires Lane announcing the anticipated opening in Summer 2021 of a new swimming pool and refurbished leisure centre for Ripon.
Now, with the delivery date for completion of the finished scheme still unknown, North Yorkshire Council, which inherited the problematic project, looks set to approve £2 million of additional funding in a bid to get it over the line.
The original cost was £10.2 million, but the extra £2 million take the projected running costs to almost twice that figure at £20 million. But how did it get to here?
3,000 tonnes of grout has been pumped under the 1995 leisure centre building to shore up its foundations
Timeline
This timeline sets out key events from before plans for the scheme were granted planning approved, to the present day.
- 1948: Alderman Cyril Tetley Wade donates land at Camp Close 'for the benefit of the young people of the city'
- 1995: leisure centre opens on the site - funded by planning gain monies provided by former Safeway Supermarket (now Morrisons)
- 2007/08: Ripon City Council transfers ownership of the building to Harrogate Borough Council (HBC)
- 2008 Camp Close identified as site for new Ripon swimming pool to replace Spa Baths
- February 2018: A sinkhole opens up on the leisure centre car park
- June 2019: The planning application for new swimming pool and leisure centre refurbishment is approved in spite of 'deep concerns' raised by some councillors about site stability issues
- November 2019 principal contractor Willmott Dixon (WD) starts on site, after being awarded a £10.2million contract for delivery of the scheme over 17 months
- September 2020 WD discovers a ‘void’ while digging foundations at the entrance of the leisure centre
- September 2020 construction and property consultancy Stantec inspects the void and meets on site with WD and property infrastructure and construction company Pick Everard to discuss possible mitigation measures
- October 2020: Stantec produces a detailed cavity inspection report for WD and HBC, which raises concerns about the load-bearing capacity of piles under the existing leisure centre and flags up wider ground stability issues affecting the site
- October 2020: The report says that the ‘void’ discovered by WD should, in the short term, be backfilled with gravel, regularly monitored and topped up
- The Stantec report states: “The risk of the ground collapse further impacting on the existing building can’t be overlooked” and “further detailed investigations are required to evaluate the stability of the existing building”
- November 2020: Harrogate Borough Council issues press release saying that the project had been ‘slightly delayed’
- May 2021: HBC cabinet approves additional spending of £110,000 for investigation of the void
- September 2021: Freedom of Information (FOI) request made to HBC by Ripon resident and retired chartered engineer Stanley Mackintosh, reveals that the project is more than £3 million over budget at £13.5 million
- November 2021: Ripon Spa Baths closes
- November 2021: Following a further FOI request made by Mr Mackintosh and an internal review by HBC, the council confirms that the running cost for the project is now £14.5 million
- March 2022 Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre (named after Ripon's Olympic Gold diving hero) opens
- August 2022 HBC approves £3.5 million funding for ground stability works under 1995 leisure centre building - taking the running total to £18 million
- March 31 2023: HBC is abolished and North Yorkshire Council takes over responsibility for the leisure project
- April 2023: temporary gym costing £300,000 is installed on swimming pool car park
- June 2023: Ground stabilisation works begin at leisure centre
- May 2024: North Yorkshire Council issues media release saying that an additional £2 million is required for ground stabilisation works,
- May 2024: At £20 million the running total cost for the project is almost twice the original price
Read more:
- Defunct Harrogate Borough Council under fire for Ripon leisure centre saga
- Another £2 million to be spent stabilising land at sinkhole-prone Ripon leisure centre
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