Harrogate’s Rudding Park expansion approved

Councillors have approved plans by Rudding Park Hotel and Spa near Harrogate to a build a new golf clubhouse, family hub and four tennis courts and reinstate a walled garden.

North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee met in Northallerton this morning to consider the application, which the resort said will result in an additional 75 full-time jobs and lead to an extra £14.3 million being spent in the local area every year.

Planning documents said the current clubhouse was originally built as a temporary facility but had outgrown its useful life and “considerably discredits the course”.

The new two-storey building will include swimming pools, restaurants, a gym and changing rooms.

How the new clubhouse will look.

Another visual of the new clubhouse.

Simon Mackaness, owner of Rudding Park, told councillors the scheme would secure the future of the business.

He said:

“As owners, this application presents our family’s commitment to securing the long-term future of the site. The plans have been subject to much discussion with officers and consultees. It presents a unique opportunity to build on our past successes and provide high-quality facilities.”

The buildings will be constructed to the BREEAM ‘excellent’ environmental standard to put them in the top 10% of new buildings in the country.

Andy Brown, the Green Party councillor for Aire Valley, praised the scheme’s eco credentials.

He said:

“All too often we see developers pay lip service to biodiversity, sustainability and good design. I looked at this with a critical eye on those issues and was happy with what I saw.”

Green belt concerns

Rudding Park is a sprawling 300-acre estate three miles south of Harrogate. But because it sits on green belt land, planning policy only permits development in “very special circumstances”.

Neil Swannick, the Labour councillor for Whitby Streonshalh, said the positives did not outweigh the harm of building on the green belt.

He said:

“The economic benefits for the area are substantial, I recognise that, but will I support the building of a county club on the green belt? No, I won’t.”

However, Andrew Lee, the Conservatives and Independents group councillor for Appleton Roebuck and Church Fenton,  argued the strict tests for building on green belt had been met.

He said:

“Yes, it’s in the green built but Rudding Park is an important local site and they’ve demonstrated a commitment to sustainable development.

“The economic benefits mean more jobs for the local area, a £14m additional boost to local economy and securing the site for future generations and users. Taking all those things into account, I’m comfortable that the impact on the green built has been sufficiently mitigated.”

Councillors voted to approve the application with conditions by 12 votes to 1.

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Free rehabilitation offered to chronic pain sufferers in Harrogate

A gym in Harrogate has offered a free programme to help people suffering from chronic pain.

The six-month programme is based at the Nuffield Health gym in Hornbeam Park.

The programme is funded by the Nuffield charity and is worth roughly £1000 for each participant. It was designed by GPs, physiotherapists, and emotional wellbeing clinicians across the UK.

The course is run three times per year and can accommodate up to 60 participants at each start.

It is open to anyone who has suffered from pain and stiffness around a joint, lower back and neck pain, arthritis, gout and other conditions for more than six months. Participants can be referred to the programme by their GPs or can complete an online self-referral form.

Rehabilitation specialist at Nuffield Harrogate Melanie Hook said:

“At the charity we recognise there’s a need to support people living with chronic joint pain, affecting more than 8.75 million people in the UK and has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The programme aims to empower and enable individuals with chronic joint pain to self-manage their condition and pain symptoms.”

For the first twelve weeks participants are expected to meet twice a week for a group workshop and an exercise session guided by joint pain experts.

Some of the exercises covered include joint strength training, flexibility training, yoga, and swimming. Full gym access is also provided for the entirety of the programme.

After this participants are moved to the next unsupervised phase where they can apply what they learnt in weeks 1-12 individually at the gym.

Those who have completed the programme have reported significant improvements to their pain levels and overall quality of life.

One participant said:

“I feel I have benefited enormously. I feel much stronger. I’m walking better. And my pain has reduced to the extent that I don’t need to take pain relief as much.”

Ms Hook added:

“Our program has been a huge success and since our start, we have had hundreds of participants go through the programme.

“Some stay on at the gym and others have gone away and kept up with their activity in other areas of their lives.”

To find out more click here.

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CrossFit gym in Ripon to host official opening tomorrow

A new CrossFit gym in Ripon is set to host its official open day tomorrow under the ownership of a local military man and his wife.

CrossFit Ripon’s opening will provide an opportunity to see the space, meet the team, watch live weightlifting demos, and even take part in fitness challenges.

There will also be several local vendors and businesses at the opening offering food and drinks, as well as skincare and nutritional advice.

The gym has already achieved 90% of its membership capacity in the weeks leading up to the official opening and is welcoming more potential customers at the new facility tomorrow.

Owners Mick and Sarah Meegan, who already run a smaller training studio in the city, faced a nine-month planning battle to secure the CrossFit Ripon unit.

They hope the new gym will tackle obesity and improve physical and mental wellbeing.

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CrossFit involves various high-intensity strength and conditioning exercises and has risen to popularity over the past two decades.

Mr Meegan, who is serving his final year of 21 years of military service, posted on social media:

“Our long-awaited open day is almost here, lots of hard graft has been going in at CFR HQ to make our training space pretty special.

“You guys won’t be disappointed.

“We look forward to meeting you all and getting you starting on your fitness journeys.”

The gym will be open every day and membership prices begin at £80 per month.

The open day will take place tomorrow at the unit on Ripon Business Park. It will run from noon until 4pm.

£3.5m gym for cancer patients to open in Harrogate

A £3.5 million exercise and wellbeing centre is to open in Harrogate in autumn.

The Yorkshire Cancer Research Centre at Hornbeam Park will offer free, personalised fitness, nutrition and wellbeing support to people with cancer. It aims to help patients prepare for treatment and recover better.

The building will incorporate a café, shop and donation centre and will also become Yorkshire Cancer Research’s new head office. The charity will relocate from its premises at Grove Park Court in Harrogate.

It currently has 70 staff, including those at its seven shops, and expects to have 100 by March next year, partly due to the new centre, which will create 10 new jobs and 40 volunteering opportunities.

Its shop sites include Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough.

People will be able to self-refer to the exercise centre and visit for free, although they will need to sign-up and book.

Most users are expected to come from within 15 miles of Hornbeam Park and up to 1,500 people are expected to use the service in its first three years.

Yorkshire Cancer Research gym

The gym will offer one-to-one support

The charity is recruiting fitness instructors with specialist cancer knowledge. Many sessions will be one-to-one.

Everything people do at the centre will be analysed and used to improve understanding of exercise as a treatment for cancer patients.

Yorkshire Cancer Research plans to open at least four new fitness and wellbeing centres across the region in the next 10 years.

Dr Kathryn Scott, chief executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said:

“Yorkshire will be at the forefront of exercise as a treatment” and the centre would “inform future cancer treatment in the UK and elsewhere in the world”.

Evidence shows that exercise can increase the success of cancer treatment, reduce side effects and speed up recovery, as well as improving life expectancy.

The programme builds on the charity’s Active Together service in Sheffield, which was launched in February 2022, in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. So far it has helped more than 370 people with cancer.

Yorkshire Cancer Research will relocate from its current site at Grove Park Court in Harrogate.

Dr Scott said:

“Despite clear evidence that being physically active is safe and has a positive effect for people with cancer, exercise services are not routinely available and most patients are not as active as they could be following a diagnosis.

“Our long-term goal is for these programmes to become a standard part of care embedded in and delivered by the NHS across Yorkshire and beyond.”

Pure Gym to open in Knaresborough tomorrow

Pure Gym is to open its newest gym in Knaresborough tomorrow.

The gym, which will employ nine staff, will be open from 6am to 10pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.

It will provide about 40 classes a week free to members.

It has 220 pieces of equipment, a functional zone, a free weights area, cardio equipment and a fitness studio. Certified PTs will be available to help.

Based on the site of the former Lidl supermarket on York Road, the gym will welcome its first customers at midday tomorrow.

A typical Pure Gym layout. Pic: James McCauley

A Pure Gym spokesperson said:

“Our newest gym will offer members high-quality, low-cost fitness facilities and provide them with access to state-of-the-art equipment to use to achieve their fitness goals whenever they choose.”

Tomorrow’s opening means Knaresborough and Harrogate will both have Pure Gyms — but not Ripon. The Stray Ferret asked the company if it had any plans t open in the city.

The spokesperson said:

“We are always on the lookout for new sites that will enable us to provide as many people as possible with access to affordable, flexible fitness.

“We currently don’t have any concrete plans for a site in Ripon, but will continue to keep an eye out for potential locations for our next Pure Gym.”

Pure Gym was launched in 2009 and now has 1.2 million members and 340 UK clubs.

It is majority owned by American private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners.

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Ripon temporary gym to remain in place until 2024

The temporary gym at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon looks set to remain in place until March next year.

The £300,000 facility, which is operated by Brimhams Active on behalf of North Yorkshire Council, was installed last month.

The installation enabled the closure of the existing gym on the upper floor of the 28-year-old leisure centre next to the new swimming pool, paving the way for ground stabilisation works costing £3.5 million to be carried out under the building.

In a statement due before next week’s full council, Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for culture, arts and housing, confirmed that the facility is expected to be in place until next year.

He said:

“The temporary gym will include the high-quality, state-of-the-art Technogym equipment currently available in the existing leisure and wellness centre.

“As well as expert advice and guidance from the Brimhams Active team, customers will still be able to use the changing and shower facilities in the new pool area, as well as the sauna and steam suite as they will remain open as normal.

“Group exercise classes will also continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall. The new swimming pool will remain open as usual.

“The temporary gym will be used until the refurbishment project is completed by March 2024.”

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The installation of the gym comes after an investigation into ground conditions beneath the older half of the leisure centre after an underground void was discovered in 2020.

At the time, Harrogate Borough Council said the void is understood to have been “present for a number of years and was only discovered when the reinforced concrete slab, which provides the foundation for the new swimming pool, was cast”.

Still no timeframe on refurbishment of Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens

The company behind plans to transform Harrogate’s Crescent Gardens with a two-storey extension has said it still plans to go ahead with the scheme.

Harrogate-based property developers Impala Estates plans to turn the building into offices, a rooftop restaurant and a gym. But there is still no timeframe on when it will happen.

Impala bought the former Harrogate Borough Council headquarters for £4 million in 2020.

The council, which vacated the building in 2016, approved Impala’s plans in May last year. But since then work has not started and there has been no further update.

The Stray Ferret asked Impala why the redevelopment had been delayed and what the latest timeframe was, and also whether its plans had been revised.

James Hartley, a director of Impala, said:

“Planning was granted with conditions attached in which myself and my design team are working through with the council.

“The plans for the development have not been revised since planning.”

David Hartley, a director of Impala, told a council meeting last year the plans would bring “significant public benefits” to the town, “which include bringing an empty building back into use and creating quality office space”.

Crescent Gardens was vacated by the council when it moved into its Knapping Mount headquarters in 2017.

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Gym offers free Harrogate classes to boost fitness in January

A free community class will be on offer at a Harrogate fitness studio every weekend this month.

CrossFit Harrogate is inviting anyone who can’t afford gym memberships or who doesn’t know where to begin with a more healthy lifestyle to try its weekly group session.

It will take place every Sunday at 12.15pm, lasting 45 minutes, at the gym’s base at The Zone on Hornbeam Park.

Head coach Anneka Thompson said:

“We want to invite people that are going through financial hardship, parents, grandparents, anyone that wants to exercise but doesn’t know where or how to begin to come into our gym for a free community class every Sunday for the month.

“This is our way of offering help to those that could use some friendly faces and some movement in their lives. If we get a good turn out, we would look to continue it.”

The sessions will run on Sundays, January 8, 15, 22 and 29. To book a place, call Anneka on 07471 697824 or email her by clicking here.

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Why Harrogate’s Stuart Perrin set up the UK’s first affordable boutique gym

 This story is sponsored by Coach.

Join the Fitness Revolution with Coach Gyms Harrogate

After operating a health and fitness setting in Harrogate years ago, Stuart Perrin spotted a gap in the market for a luxury gym that doesn’t cost the earth.

The former resident of the town is now the owner and CEO of Coach, the UK’s first affordable boutique gym.

Launching in Leeds in 2020, he went on to open a £1.5m site at Harrogate’s Hornbeam Park in January this year with more in the pipeline.

He said:

“There’s a real gap for a quality product at affordable rates in the town. There was an option to pay a small fortune or next to nothing.

“But there was a huge gap in the middle for people wanting quality but without the high prices.

“Coach itself is a boutique health and fitness concept, which basically means in a nutshell everything is really high-end; fixtures, fittings, experience.

“However, we offer it an affordable price. If you were going to a club like this in London, you would be paying £200 a month. Here you can join for as little as £29.

“It’s something very different and is the biggest gym in Harrogate as well. Since we opened in January, we’ve overtaken every other club from a membership size and perspective quite significantly.”

Coach boasts more than 200 pieces of state-of-the art equipment, as well as over 200 instructor-led fitness classes across four studios.

Surge Padel, where members can play one of the world’s fastest growing sports, can also be found on the first floor.

Mr Perrin added that there was a large focus on providing a female-friendly experience – a segment he feels is under-represented in the current market.

He said:

“Although we’re not a ladies only gym, we are definitely geared towards females when it comes to communication and experience – even down to the lighting.

“The lighting levels in Coach are quite low, a bit like a nightclub. Research went into the exact lighting level we need to achieve to make women feel less self-conscious.”

Since launching in Harrogate on January 21, Mr Perrin said the reception in the town had been “exceptional”.

He said:

“Within that time we have grown the business really fast and it has been really exciting. People come and see the product and unless they want a swimming pool, they wouldn’t join anywhere else. That’s not us being arrogant, I believe the value for money we offer is unrivalled.”

Coach Gyms is redefining affordable luxury. Join now from only £18.99 a month. Find out more and join the fitness revolution today!

Pure Gym set to open in Knaresborough in March

Pure Gym has revealed it plans to open in Knaresborough in March.

The no frills health club operates more than 300 gyms in the UK, including one in Harrogate, which opened in 2015.

The Stray Ferret revealed in March that it planned to open on the site of the former Lidl supermarket on Knaresborough’s York Road.

In an update today to the Stray Ferret, Pure Gym promised to bring “affordable, flexible fitness to Knaresborough” with an introductory offer of £12.99 a month.

Pure Gym Harrogate

Pure Gym in Harrogate, which opened in 2015.

The Lidl closed in 2018 and in February last year Homecare Pharmacy Services began providing covid clinics from a building in the car park until it moved in September last year to larger premises on Knaresborough’s Chain Lane.

Pure Gym now aims to have a gym up and running on the site alongside the main road in four months. It will open from 6am to 10pm daily.

A Pure Gym spokesperson said:

“Pure Gym is delighted to be bringing affordable, flexible fitness to Knaresborough.

“Scheduled to open in March 2023, the brand-new gym will be spread across about 11,500 square feet and will offer pin and free weights, group exercise classes, a range of machines and equipment, a large functional area and access to our PTs to help members achieve their fitness goals.

“The people of Knaresborough and the surrounding areas will enjoy access to Pure Gym’s flagship low-cost, zero-contract memberships to help support their physical and mental wellbeing. We look forward to welcoming new members to Pure Gym Knaresborough – look out for our opening offer.”

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