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09
Oct
Is Ripon leisure centre building re-opening finally in sight?
The finishing line could soon be in sight for Ripon's beleaguered £20 million leisure scheme.
In an update to fellow members at Monday night's full city council meeting, council leader Andrew Williams, who also represents the Minster and Moorside division on North Yorkshire Council, said:
I have some good news and I'm keeping my fingers very tightly crossed, because I have been told by council officers that the grouting work at the leisure centre is now complete and validation work has commenced.
The officers are liaising with the council's insurers and when the validation process is finalised and a public liability insurance certificate is in place, they can work towards a reopening date for the gym.
I've also been told that the cost of the work is within the approved budget and that comes as a relief.
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.
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