A free outdoor gym looks set to be built in Ripon.

Ripon City Council agreed unanimously to proceed with the project at a meeting on Monday (June 1).

The gym will be installed on land outside the city’s leisure centre on Dallamires Lane and will include body weight-type calisthenics equipment, such as pull-up bars, parallel bars and chest press.

Councillor Andrew Williams, who leads the Independent Putting Ripon Above Party Politics group, said teenagers who can’t afford gym memberships and people on low income would particularly benefit from the facility.

It is expected to cost between £10,000 and £12,000. The cost will be paid for by the community infrastructure levy, which is a charge imposed on developers by North Yorkshire Council to fund new infrastructure.

North Yorkshire Council then distributes the funds across the region.

Ripon City Council has accrued £12,791 in funds from the levy over the last four years so the vast majority will be spent on this project.

Councillors unanimously supported the proposal. Cllr Barbara Brodigan, a Liberal Democrat, said she hoped a similar gym could be installed in Spa Gardens.

Cllr Williams said the leisure centre had been selected for safeguarding reasons because it had security cameras.

Outdoor gyms have previously been installed at Knaresborough House and Belmont Park in Starbeck in the Harrogate district.