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19
Sept
Ground stabilisation works continue at Ripon's beleaguered £20 million leisure scheme
No completion date is yet available from North Yorkshire Council for Ripon's beleaguered £20 million leisure scheme.
The city's new six-lane swimming pool, named in honour of Ripon's Olympic diving champion Jack Laugher, opened at the Dallamires Lane site in March 2022, but 30 months later ground stabilisation works contnue at the adjacent 1995 leisure centre building,
In a brief update on the status of the project, North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for property services, Kerry Metcalfe, said:
Work is on-going at the site and we are drawing up a timescale for reopening which we will share once it is complete.
We are working to minimise costs and will report on the costs of the scheme when works are completed
The six-lane pool at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre, opened in March 2022
Escalating costs
When North Yorkshire Council inherited the scheme from the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council in April of last year, the overall cost for delivery of the new pool, along with refurbishment of the existing leisure centre, installation of a children's playground, reinstatement of playing fields and associated landscaping, had increased by almost £8 million.
The original budget for the entire project awarded to construction company Willmott Dixon in November 2019, was £10.2 million and it was scheduled for completion in 17 months.
But delays and cost hikes followed as various issues, including a new sinkhole, were discovered on site.
The sinkhole was discovered in September 2020, near the old leisure centre entrance and following detailed ground investigations carried out by engineering firm Stantec, a Harrogate Borough Council report in August 2022 revealed that £3.5 million was required for remediation works, taking the running total for spending on the scheme to £18 million.
But that figure rose again in May 2024, when the North Yorkshire Council execuitve, made up of senior Conservative councillors, approved additional funding of £2 million to pay for more grout to be pumped into the void beneath the leisure centre building.
Temporary facilities
The temporary gym installed at a cost of £300,000 in the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre car park in April 2023 will remain open until the refurbished 1995 building is ready to open.
In the meantime, spin classes will continue to be held at the Hugh Ripley Hall, which is managed by Ripon City Council.
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