North Yorkshire Council has said it’s still working towards a sale of Ripon’s historic Spa Baths — almost two years after a preferred bidder was chosen.

The Grade II-listed baths was the last of its kind to open in England but was put on the market by the now-abolished Harrogate Borough Council due to the construction of the new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Dallamires Lanes.

After 117 years of service to Ripon, the baths closed for good in November 2021.

A year earlier in October 2021, Ripon-based Sterne Properties was selected as the preferred bidder by Harrogate Borough Council but a deal had not been struck by the time North Yorkshire Council took over the process in April this year.

Sterne Properties has plans to strip out the building to create a new hospitality facility for the city.

Ripon City Council nominated the baths as an asset of community value which gave it a window to make a bid but council leader Andrew Williams said it could end up being “very complicated and very risky financially” so it backed the Sterne Properties proposals instead.

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Read more:

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North Yorkshire Council declined to say why the process is taking so long and how much the proposed sale was worth when asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

But the baths were previously put up for sale by Harrogate Borough Council in 2008 with a £3.3m price tag. It was later withdrawn following a community campaign.

North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of resources, Gary Fielding, said: