Ground stability work at Ripon Leisure Centre is set to cost £3.5 million and cause further delays for a refurbishment project which is already over budget and more than a year overdue.
The costs have been revealed in a Harrogate Borough Council report, which said the project now won’t be completed until spring 2024.
The centre’s new swimming pool opened this year, but plans for a larger gym and exercise studios have been delayed after underground voids were discovered beneath the older half of the site which was built in 1995.
Engineering firm Stantec carried out ground investigations over winter and has now proposed remedial works, which will cost the council £3.5 million and mean parts of the centre are closed for at least 10 months from November.
A temporary gym in the venue’s car park has also been proposed and will cost an additional £300,000, while the new swimming pool will remain open throughout.
A report to a meeting of the council’s cabinet next week said the authority had made “every effort to provide an accurate estimate” of the costs, but added these could rise further once the ground stability works begin.
The report also said:
“It is appropriate and timely to undertake the remedial works now.
“The consulting engineer has previously stated that in their professional opinion a do-nothing approach is unacceptable from a public safety perspective.
“By undertaking the works, which also include installing post works monitoring equipment, the council will ensure that it has put into place adequate mitigation to address the risks.”
‘Deep concerns’ before building began
A decision to build the new swimming pool next to the existing leisure centre was made in 2019 despite some councillors raising “deep concerns” over ground stability issues at the site where a sinkhole opened up the previous year.
The council continually insisted that professional advice made it clear that the site is “safe to use” before it awarded a £10 million contract for the project to construction firm Wilmott Dixon in 2020.
Since then, a further £4.5 million has been set aside by the council after the discovery of the underground voids and other issues which delayed the opening of the new swimming pool.
This extra money does not include the ground stability works or temporary gym costs revealed this week.
If approved by cabinet members, the ground stability works will start in December and end next summer before checks are carried out and a monitoring system is installed.
The refurbishment works would then start after this, with completion in spring 2024.
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Ouseburn councillor welcomes decision to scrap Linton asylum centre
Ouseburn councillor Arnold Warneken has welcomed today’s announcement that plans to house 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton-on-Ouse have been scrapped.
The government planned to create a reception centre at the former airfield, which is close to villages in the Harrogate district including Great Ouseburn, Little Ouseburn and Nun Monkton.
The airfield is also just nine miles from Boroughbridge and 13 miles from Knaresborough.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said today he had withdrawn the offer to the Home Office for the site.
Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken, who represents Ouseburn on North Yorkshire County Council, said withdrawing the offer was the “right thing to do”. He said:
“It was an ill-thought plan that caused distress and sleepless nights for residents. The consequences would have been huge.”
Read more:
- Ripon refugee charity joins calls opposing 1,500 asylum seekers at Linton
- Home Office accused of ‘disgraceful actions’ over Linton asylum plan’
Cllr Warneken said the episode revealed was a concerning lack of consultation by the government.
He said he suspected the reason was because a consultation “would have provided a different answer to the one they wanted to hear” but nevertheless this was not the right way to proceed.
Linton on Ouse Action Group, which was set up to campaign against the Home Office’s plan, welcomed the news.
Group member Kelly Kirby said it was “absolutely delighted” but also concerned that the same scheme could be dropped on another community soon.
She said action group members has spent “tens of thousands of hours” opposing the scheme.
By no means a victory but some movement. We will continue to hold @ukhomeoffice to account for their failings in processing and their hostile treatment of asylum seekers. It is by no means over.
— Linton on Ouse Action Group (@LintonAction) August 9, 2022
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, also welcomed the news that Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak had no plans to revive the Linton scheme.
Wonderful News! @RishiSunak Sunak pledges to axe 'inappropriate' Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre plan @LintonAction https://t.co/O0EwPCc3QS
— Kevin Hollinrake MP (@kevinhollinrake) August 9, 2022
Harrogate squash player James Willstrop wins Commonwealth gold
Harrogate squash player James Willstrop has won another Commonwealth Games gold medal — a week before his 39th birthday.
Willstrop, who won gold in the singles at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and is a former world number one, won the doubles in Birmingham yesterday with partner Declan James.
He had earlier finished fourth in the singles.
Willstrop told the Stray Ferret the intensity of the last few days had been immense and he was delighted with the outcome.
He said lockdown had enabled him to reset and focus on competing at another Commonwealth Games at a stage in his career when he thought it might not happen again.
The event, he added, was the highest profile squash competition in the world even though the World Championships featured all the leading players.
Willstrop grew up in Pontefract but lives in Harrogate with his partner Vanessa Atkinson, who is a former professional squash player.
He plays at Harlow Hill Squash and Sports Club and Harrogate Sports and Fitness Centre.
Willstrop now plans to travel to America for some coaching and training camps before having a holiday and deciding what to do next. He said:
“I’ll see how my body reacts and if it’s in good shape I might play a bit longer on the tour.”
Read more:
- Harrogate squash club strongly represented at Commonwealth Games
- Ripon’s Jack Laugher wins second gold medal at Commonwealth Games
Ukrainian who fled to Harrogate sets up vodka and sunflower oil business
A Ukrainian entrepreneur has moved to Harrogate and launched a vodka and sunflower oil import business.
Fedir Haidai undertook a 14-day journey across Europe with his wife Katya and three-year-old son Misha after finding a sponsor family in Harrogate through the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
He said:
“I was on a business trip to Kherson in February when we heard that Russia was assembling soldiers, tanks and military equipment around 100km away. I spoke to my wife in Kyiv and said we must go now.
“She left work, picked up our son from nursery and a few belongings from home. We crossed into Moldova where we were able to stay with friends. A few hours later we watched on TV as the invasion started.
“My parents are still in Ukraine and I am afraid for them.”
Mr Haidai was forced to abandon two businesses that employed 30 people in Kyiv.
His outdoor paving tile manufacturing company was destroyed by Russian attacks. A second company that imports central heating pipes became unsustainable because his main supplier was based in Russian ally Belarus.
He has now joined the North Yorkshire branch of the Institute of Directors to forge new connections and support as he restarts his business journey.
Read more:
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Three months after arriving in the UK, he has three new ventures.
Sunflower Ltd – named after the Ukrainian national flower – will import Ukrainian sunflower oil, which Mr Haidai will market under the Holla Oils brand.
He is also to import Hetman-branded vodka. Lviv-based Hetman is one of the largest producers of alcoholic drinks in Ukraine, with a history dating back to 1782.
He plans to sell the products through online, physical retail and the hospitality trade.
A third business will help to relocate IT experts from Ukraine to safe European locations.
Mr Haidai said:
“The main thing is that we are safe but we don’t have any savings so I need to set up in business here.
“I know how to organise a company and build relationships with suppliers and clients. My idea is to import products from the west of Ukraine, where it is safer. There is a need for sunflower oil here and significant demand for Ukranian vodka.”
Harrogate ‘like a Harry Potter film’
Mr Haidai has faced challenges in setting up his business – not least finding a bank prepared to open a business account for him – but doors are now beginning to open.
“I need a lot of money to import vodka due to alcohol duty but I have found some people who want to help me,” he said.
“I am surprised and happy that so many local people want to help us in different ways. People are so open and friendly. We have been introduced to so many new people.”
Mr Haidai has been joined in Harrogate by his sister and 17-year-old niece, who have also found a sponsor home in the town. He said:
“My first impression of Harrogate was it looked like a Harry Potter film, with all the old buildings.”
Temperatures to soar to 30 degrees – but no weather warning for Harrogate district
Temperatures are set to soar close to 30 degrees in the next few days — but today’s extreme heat warning does not include the Harrogate district.
The Met Office has issued a four-day amber extreme heat warning for much of southern and central England from Thursday.
The warning, which predicts temperatures of up to 35C, extends north as far as Leeds.
Although the Harrogate district is not included, it is still set to be very warm for the rest of the week.
The Met office is forecasting temperatures of 29 degrees centigrade in Boroughbridge tomorrow, with the rest of the district a degree or two cooler.
Temperatures are not expected to fall until Monday to Tuesday next week when there could be thunderstorms.
Many farmers are praying for rain.
Yorkshire Water said today average stocks in its reservoirs were 51% last week, which is around 20% less than usual for this time of year.
https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1556941086316236800
Read more:
- Image gallery: 72 hours of wild weather in Harrogate district
- Harrogate climate change scientist warns of more extreme heatwaves
Girls aged 13 and 14 admit setting fire to bins in Harrogate
Two girls aged 13 and 14 have admitted setting commercial bins on fire in Harrogate town centre.
The girls, who are both from Harrogate, cannot be named for legal reasons.
They pleaded guilty to arson on a Biffa bin worth £600 belonging to Primark on Oxford Place on May 23.
They also admitted the same charge relating to a bin worth £600 belonging to Harrogate Borough Council on May 26.
The 13-year-old is the same girl who admitted in June being drunk in Ripon and attacking three police officers.
They appeared before North Yorkshire Youth Court in Harrogate on Friday, where they were referred to a youth offender panel for 12 months.
They were also ordered to pay £50 compensation.
The older girl also pleaded guilty to separate charges of causing actual bodily harm on June 19 and assaulting a police officer three days later.
She was ordered to pay £200 compensation plus £85 court costs and a £26 surcharge to fund victim services.
Read more:
- Harrogate girl, 13, admits drunken attack on police officers
- Business group calls for more Harrogate town centre police
‘It’ll take more than a scumbag chancer to bring us down’
The owners of The Dale Stores in Birstwith have pledged to continue serving the village after suffering a “sickening” burglary.
Andrea and Matthew Walwyn were sleeping next door when thieves smashed two panes of glass on the front door to gain entry to their shop and post office at nine minutes past midnight on Friday.
They took stamps worth £3,000 and a quantity of cash.
The couple, who have run the Nidderdale business for 17 years, told the Stray Ferret the incident had shaken them and the community but they had been overwhelmed by messages of support.
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The shop has reopened and although the post office is currently closed Ms Walwyn said they would be back at full capacity as soon as possible.
She said:
“We are really shaken. It’s just sickening. We live next door and think of the shop as part of our home.
“People have come in saying they have never locked their doors but they are now.
“But we want to fully re-open as soon as possible.”
Last year The Dale Stores won an award in the Rural Oscars competition organised by the Countryside Alliance, receiving praise for its ‘great service and great produce’ and for maintaining a village post office.
Ms Walwyn said she had been taken aback by the kindness shown by villagers in recent days. One man arranged for builders to sort out the damaged door straight away.
A customer arranged to fix the door.
Mr Walwyn put a post on their Facebook page saying, “It’ll take more than a scumbag chancer to bring us down. Andrea and I are here this morning. Nice people are very welcome”.
It prompted nearly 300 likes and a barrage of supportive comments.
One said:
Boy, 13, rescued at Brimham Rocks“After all you both went through yesterday to see you smiling today is what makes Birstwith village shop the best.”
Rescuers came to the aid of a teenage boy who got stuck at Brimham Rocks at the weekend.
Volunteers from Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association were summoned to the National Trust-owned site at about 2pm on Saturday.
A 13-year-old boy had climbed to the top of one of the rocks but then felt unable to navigate his way down safely.
The rescue association’s website said:
“Local members were able to calm the casualty until team vehicles arrived and a safe means of lowering the casualty back to the ground was rigged and a successful rescue was carried out.”
Derek Hammond, a volunteer for the rescue association, told the Stray Ferret it was a simple rescue and the boy did the right thing by seeking help rather than putting himself at risk of harm by trying to get down when he didn’t feel safe.
Eleven volunteers took part in the incident near Pateley Bridge, which was the group’s first call-out for two weeks.
While they were dealing with it they then received a second call, alerting them to concerns that a cave diver at Goyden Pot, near Lofthouse in Nidderdale, had not returned at the expected time.
The rescue association’s website said:
“As the controllers were working to call in specialist divers for this incident news was received that she had returned safely so the team stood down and diverted attention to an ongoing incident at Brimham Rocks.”
Read more:
Missing Ripon man found
A missing Ripon man has been found safe.
North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal at the weekend for anyone who had seen the man to get in touch.
But three days later they said he had been found safe.
We have consequently updated this article to conceal the man’s identity.
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Police find missing Ripon man
A missing Ripon man has been found safe.
North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal at the weekend for anyone who had seen the man to get in touch.
But three days later they said he had been found safe.
We have consequently updated this article to conceal the man’s identity.
Read more:
- Ripon’s Jack Laugher wins second gold medal at Commonwealth Games
- Developer granted time extension over 30-home plan in Ripon