Ripon City Council has given its backing to plans designed to return Ripon’s iconic Spa Baths to its former Edwardian glory.
Ripon-based property investment and development company Sterne Properties Limited, is seeking planning approval from North Yorkshire Council for a mixed-used hospitality-led scheme that will see the restoration of the spa building, which includes ornate tiles, stained glass, period lighting and other features dating back to 1905, when it opened.
Many of the Grade II listed building’s decorative elements have not been seen for 88 years, as the spa was re-purposed in 1936 to accommodate a public swimming pool and the addition of a pool hall saw the concealment of classical designs on windows, walls and ceilings.
Robert Sterne, pictured at the ornate main entrance to the Spa building
Director Robert Sterne, told the Stray Ferret:
“We are pleased to have the support of Ripon City Council, alongside that of Ripon Civic Society, for our proposed rejuvenation of Spa Baths.”
He added:
“Our objective, as a long-term investor in our home city, is to deliver high quality developments that breathe new life into listed and historically-important buildings and bring redundant properties back into active use.
“This is achieved through a sensitive balance of residential and commercial space and the delivery of workable schemes that are financially viable and environmentally sustainable.”
Sterne’s plan includes four new-build apartments and the regenerated complex will provide public access to the Spa building along with a new pedestrian route into the adjacent Spa Gardens.
The city council voted in favour of the scheme at its full meeting last week and its response to the proposed plans will be lodged with North Yorkshire Council planners.
Councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams, who are members of the the North Yorkshire Council Skipton and Ripon Area Planning Committee, left the council chamber before the agenda item was considered by fellow councillors.
As required for all Ripon planning applications that include a new-build element, ground stability tests have taken place at the Park Street site and results from them will be supplied to the planning department.
Main image: An architect’s perspective of how the refurbished Spa building will look. Image: architecture:ab
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