A £3.5 million scheme to stabilise the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has been halted because of new suspected land movement.
Groundwork began in June following the discovery of a “void” beneath the former leisure centre building in the sinkhole-prone area.
Members have had to use a temporary gym in the car park and attend group classes at Hugh Ripley Hall in the city centre while remediation work takes place at the old building.
The new building, which includes a swimming pool, sauna and steam room has remained open.
The new building on the site remains open.
Work was due to finish in spring next year but the latest discovery may jeopardise that — and spark fresh questions about the wisdom of choosing the site and continuing to spend money stabilising the land despite sinkhole fears.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if work had been halted after noticing a lack of activity in recent weeks.
Jo Ireland, the council’s assistant director for culture and leisure, said:
“Our contractors have temporarily paused groundworks at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre as a precautionary measure while they investigate and assess signs of movement that have appeared in the internal blockwork of the existing building.
“A specialist engineer has advised the movement is predominantly aesthetic with no grounds for concern over the safety of the building.
“We will be installing a monitoring system on site in the next few days to detect any further movement that may occur. This system will give us the data we need to allow us to restart work later this month.
“We would only need to pause work again should the monitoring system detect additional significant movement, at which point further assessment of the situation would take place.”
‘Throwing good money after bad’
In October last year Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who also represents Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council, said it was time to stop “throwing good money after bad” and and “look for a suitable location for a new leisure centre to be built on sound land”.
He accused the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council, which took the decision to build on the site, of “blindly and belligerently pouring money into propping up a centre that is nearly 30 years old and there is no guarantee that more funding won’t be needed after remediation works begin”.
Cllr Williams added:
“These works would take the total spending on this project to £18 million – some £8 million above the original budget – and they can’t continue ploughing money into this site, with its known history of ground stability issues, including a sinkhole that opened up on the leisure centre car park in 2018.”
Read more:
- £3.5 million remediation work underway at Ripon leisure centre
- Ripon leisure centre halts price increase due to ongoing work
- City councillors call for an end to spending on Ripon leisure centre
