There is still no opening date for Ripon’s new swimming pool as the multi-million pound project continues to run over budget and into more construction problems.

Harrogate Borough Council had originally aimed to open the pool in May 2021, but the project is now nine months overdue and £4 million over budget.

This is after several construction problems, most recently including a fault in the lining of the pool. An underground void has also been discovered at the adjoining leisure centre site which has prompted an £110,000 investigation.

Cllr Stanley Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the council, previously said he anticipated the pool would open in January.

But the council has now confirmed that a revised opening date has still not been set.

Speaking in December, Cllr Lumley said: 

“New swimming pools go through a significant amount of testing to ensure they are safe to use for years to come and provide the best experience for the customer.

“During the testing period of the new six-lane 25-metre swimming pool at the leisure centre on Dallamires Road in Ripon, an issue was identified with the lining of the pool.

“In order to resolve this issue, Myrtha – the pool manufacturer – will be carrying out additional work, at no expense to the borough council, to prepare the pool for opening.”

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The council awarded a £10 million contract for the pool build to construction firm Willmott Dixon in January 2020. As of last month, £13,422,309 had been spent on the project with a further £584,690 allocated.

The leisure centre

This includes money spent on investigation works after the underground void was discovered at the site. It was found in 2020, but only became public knowledge last May when the investigation launched.

These works are currently underway and are likely to continue into spring.

Gypsum deposits

Initial studies suggest there has been a “significant deterioration” of the ground beneath the older half of the centre which was built in 1995 and like much of Ripon sits on gypsum deposits.

It is likely that ground strengthening works will be needed, although the council has insisted the leisure centre is still “safe to use”.

The new pool is being built as a replacement for Ripon Spa Baths which closed in November, leaving the city without a pool for the last three months.

The 116-year-old baths was put up for sale by the council in a move which sparked concerns that the venue could lose its community use and also prompted Ripon City Council to successfully apply for the building to be nominated as an asset of community value.

This protected status means any sale has now been put on hold for several months to allow time for community bids to come forward.

In 1982, Geoff Brown and four colleagues started a modest agricultural machinery business called Ripon Farm Services.

The firm, which took on John Deere and Land Rover franchises, began with 19 members of staff and budgeted to generate £1.1 million in its first year.

Now, as the company celebrates its 40th anniversary, it has 270 staff, 12 depots and recorded turnover of £117.2 million for the financial year ending January 31, 2021 — significantly up on the £106.4 million figure for the previous year.

Ripon Farm Services, which is based on Dallamires Lane in Ripon, has become one of the Harrogate district’s biggest and best known employers. It supplies a wide range of new and used equipment from franchises including John Deere, Kuhn, Bailey, Kramer and Stihl.

Mr Brown (left) and a colleague alongside a John Deere tractor.

Mr Brown, who was brought up on a farm and has lived in Burnt Yates all his life, has been at the helm throughout the company’s existence.

Now 76, he remains a director and is keen to drive the business forward for “a while yet”. He adds:

“While I’m OK I will carry on.”

Brexit and Prince Charles

The last 12 months have been hectic, dealing not only with covid but also the impact of Brexit, which has had major repercussions for agriculture.

He also met Prince Charles — not for the first time — at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Show, where Ripon Farm Services always has a big presence.

The two men chatted amiably for some time. Mr Brown says:

“Somebody asked how did I make him laugh. I said I just talked to him. He knows a lot about farming and machinery. I met him previously at the Pateley show. He’s a very down to earth fella.”

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Mr Brown admits the company benefited from the backwind that British agriculture enjoyed in the 1980s and 1990s but thriving over four decades is testimony to far more than luck. He says:

“It’s just been steady growth since we started.”

Ripon Farm Services at the Great Yorkshire Show

61-year career

Mr Brown’s working life spans a remarkable 61 years. He started in 1961 at Glovers of Ripon, a car and agricultural machinery dealer.

Glovers was taken over by Appleyards in 1965, which lost the Massey Ferguson franchise the following year and consequently took on one of the first John Deere dealerships in the UK.

In 1966 Mr Brown was promoted to John Deere demonstrator at Appleyards.

Geoff Brown at Ripon Farm Services’ New Year Show last month.

When Appleyards sold its agricultural business in 1982 — something Mr Brown heard about when he was setting up the stand at the Great Yorkshire Show — it paved the way for something new.

So by October than year Mr Brown, along with Maurice Hymas, Bill Houseman and two other directors, had set-up Ripon Farm Services.

Selling Land Rover

Regrets? Just a few. The company sold its Land Rover franchise in 2016. Mr Brown says:

“They wanted us to move to Harrogate or Knaresborough and sell Jaguars but I didn’t want to do either of those things and now, ironically, they have relented and dealers don’t have to sell Jaguars.”

Ripon Farm Services continues to be synonymous with the distinctive John Deere green. It’s a truly international set-up: a British firm, selling American machinery all around the world. Mr Brown says:

“We export a lot of tractors and combine harvesters. Our biggest overseas markets are Poland and Spain.”

He acknowledges Brexit has caused some bumps but “it hasn’t stopped us”.

British farmers still face uncertainty about what payments will replace the loss of EU subsidies but Mr Brown remains optimistic about the future for farmers:

“As long as the government looks after them and gets something in place of the grants I can’t see it being a problem. The good ones will still be around.”

An opening date for Ripon’s new swimming pool has still to be announced.

Harrogate Borough Council said on November 26 that the planned opening on December 8 had been postponed to an unspecified date in January. The delay was attributed to a fault in the lining of the pool.

In mid-December, when the council announced the multi-million pound leisure protect would be named the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre, in honour of the Olympic diving hero and former Ripon Grammar School student, the council said the pool would be opening “early in the new year”.

But with less than two weeks of January remaining, no opening date has been revealed.

A council spokesman told the Stray Ferret it “should have further news in the coming days”.

Ripon has been without a public swimming pool for more than two months since Spa Baths closed on November 7.

The new pool and leisure centre has been beset by historic issues of ground stability that affect the Camp Close site at Dallamires Lane. It was originally due to be completed in May 2021 and cost £10.2 million, but it is currently eight months overdue and £4 million over budget.

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Harrogate district residents are being urged to donate toys and games at household waste recycling centres in the run up to Christmas.

The aim is to collect 10 tonnes of items, which will be passed on to young people, aged up to 16, who are experiencing hardship this Christmas.

The Re-use Santa Appeal is working with No Wrong Door, which supports young people in or on the edge of the care system at centres in Harrogate and Scarborough, on the initiative.

No Wrong Door replaces traditional council-run young people’s homes with hubs that combine residential care with fostering.

Staff at the county’s recycling centres, which are operated by Yorwaste on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council, will ensure donations are in good working condition before they are delivered to children.

The gifts will be given as part of a Christmas family bag to families in North Yorkshire and York. Surplus items will be distributed to other charities.

There are three recycling centres in the Harrogate district: on Wetherby Road and Penny Pot Lane in Harrogate and on Dallamires Crescent in Ripon. Drop-off points are located by the containers for household reusable items. Donations will be accepted until December 15.

The sites are also taking donations of new or part-used Christmas wrapping paper and tape as part of the appeal.

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County Councillor Derek Bastiman, executive member for waste management at North Yorkshire County Council, said:

“Christmas is a time of good will. So we’re asking families who can to add a little light to the festive season this year for many children who are less fortunate.

“I encourage people to check their cupboards for any unwanted toys and games and to donate them in the confidence that their items will go to a good home.”

Last Christmas, people donated more than 2,000 games, toys, puzzles and books, including air hockey tables, dolls’ houses, Nerf guns, bicycles and giant teddy bears.

Cllr Paula Widdowson, executive member for environment and climate change at City of York Council, added:

“It’s critical the donations are clean, well-cared for and in full working order. Thank you once again to everyone who supports this appeal.”

Harrogate Borough Council has said “categorically” that a delay to the opening of Ripon’s new swimming pool is not linked to ground stability issues and the threat of sinkholes.

The six-lane pool on Dallamires Lane was due to open on December 8 but the council said on Friday this had been delayed because a fault with the lining of the pool had been found during testing. The pool is now due to open in January but no precise date has been confirmed.

A council spokesman said pool manufacturer Myrtha would be carrying out additional work to fix the problem, at no extra cost to the council.

A swimming pool liner is a vinyl surface that is attached to the walls and floor of a pool to help keep in the water.

There have been long-standing concerns about sinkholes on the land the pool has been built on. But a council spokesman said the two issues were not linked.

“We can categorically confirm that this issue is related to the lining of the pool and not a ground stability issue.”

Harrogate Borough Council closed Ripon Spa Baths last month in anticipation of the new pool opening. The delay to the Dallamires Lane pool means there is nowhere to go for a swim in Ripon until the new year.

Read more:

• BREAKING: Ripon pool opening delayed until January after fault found
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Concerns have again been raised recently that the site could be permanently plagued by the threat of sinkholes.

This month, a council-commissioned report by engineering company Stantec outlined measures to mitigate the effects of a void that was detected last year.

Dr Alan Thompson, a geologist and director of Cuesta Consulting in Somerset, called for the council to postpone a decision on the measures and give greater consideration to finding an alternative site.

Senior councillors voted to press ahead with plans to carry out further work while opening most of the site.

The Stray Ferret revealed last week that Ripon’s new leisure project is now more than £4m over budget.

Harrogate Borough Council has voted to press ahead with plans to open a new leisure centre and pool in Ripon next month despite concerns about the long-term safety of the site.

A new council-commissioned report by engineering company Stantec outlines measures to mitigate the effects of a void that was detected last year.

The report says the measures should allow the pool and the first floor of the leisure centre to open safely on December 8 while the ground floor remains closed.

But it adds there is a “residual risk” of “catastrophic collapse” because of ongoing ground instability issues at the Dallamires Lane site since the original leisure centre was built in 1995.

This prompted Dr Alan Thompson, a geologist and director of Cuesta Consulting in Somerset, and Stanley Mackintosh, a chartered engineer in Ripon, to write to the council urging it to postpone a decision and give greater consideration to finding an alternative site.

But at last night’s cabinet meeting, councillors voted unanimously in support of a recommendation by Michael Constantine, the council’s head of operations, to carry out further work while opening most of the site.

Dr Thompson and Mr Mackintosh’s concerns were not mentioned.

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Mr Constantine said work would probably start in January and last nine months, during which time the ground floor of the leisure centre will be closed.

Michael Constantine at last night’s meeting

He said the council had been “assured by consultants” that this course of action was safe.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, the cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, said:

“We have to follow the advice of the professionals. That’s why we pay them, why we employ them. We should surely act on that advice given.”

Council leader Richard Cooper added:

“We are providing a state of the art swimming pool for the people of Ripon to replace a pool that could have collapsed at any time.”

Two sinkhole experts have urged councillors to consider finding an alternative site for the new Ripon leisure centre and pool — a month before it is due to open.

Their comments come after a newly released report by engineering company Stantec revealed the Dallamires Lane site could be permanently plagued by the threat of sinkholes.

Harrogate Borough Council commissioned the report after a void was discovered last year.

Michael Constantine, the council’s head of operations, has recommended councillors approve remedial work at a cabinet meeting tonight. But the experts have urged them to postpone a decision and take a longer-term view of the issues raised in the report.

Stanley Mackintosh, a chartered engineer in Ripon, said in a letter to the council that there was a “substantial risk of sudden catastrophic collapse” of land on the site due to the weak “pie-crust” nature of the land.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“The long term safety implications and unfathomable future costs seem to be very seriously underestimated by the council.”

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The Stantec report reveals there has been substantial and ongoing ground instability beneath the leisure centre building over three decades. It suggests the only way to avoid ongoing problems and costs is to find another site because the bedrock beneath the void is significantly disturbed and collapsed.

Mr Mackintosh, who has consistently raised concerns with the council about building a pool on land with a history of ground instability issues, said the report to councillors tonight contained “inaccuracies and omissions”.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“I am concerned that the new connecting walkway bridge may be a structural weak link, potentially unsafe for routine use by public and staff.

“As a chartered engineer, it remains my opinion that continuing to use the first floor of the existing leisure centre – and the said ‘weak link’ aerial walkway access to it– is an inadvisable and unnecessary risk to public safety.

“We should each, perhaps, honestly ask ourselves: “What kind of catastrophe at this Ripon Camp Close development, in part consequential to our own choices or inaction, could ever be justified?”

‘Gradual collapse’

Dr Alan Thompson, a geologist and director of director of Cuesta Consulting in Somerset, said he believed “gradual collapse” was a likelier scenario than sudden collapse.

Ripon’s new swimming pool will open on December 8, Harrogate Borough Council announced today.

The new facility on Dallamires Lane will include a six-lane 25-metre pool, sauna suite and electric car charging points.

An AngelEye pool safety system using underwater cameras will help lifeguards detect whether swimmers are in danger or drowning.

Ripon Spa Baths will close on Sunday November 7 so staff can be transferred across to the new facility and receive training ahead of the opening.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, the council’s new arms-length leisure company that will run the pool, said:

“This amazing new facility will provide residents with local access to great swimming experiences for a generation to come.

“I’d like to thank Harrogate Borough Council for their bold and brave vision to provide unprecedented levels of investment into leisure and wellbeing across the district.”

Conservative councillor Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, and chair of Brimhams Active, added:

“The addition of the new swimming pool is a major development for Ripon and the surrounding area and I’m delighted to announce that it will be officially opened this December.”

Read more:

• ‘Public needs to know’ Ripon pool opening date, says councillor
• New Ripon pool may not be ready to open in November

£3m over budget

The Stray Ferret revealed that the new pool is more than £3 million pounds over budget.

The running total for the scheme is now in excess of £13.5 million and that figure is likely to increase.

There has also been growing concern over the project after a ‘void’ was discovered while digging foundations at the entrance of the leisure centre.