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28
Apr 2023
'We want our learner swimming pool’, say Ripon councillors
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:
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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:
North Yorkshire Council has been approached for comment.
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