harrogate borough council Archives - Page 69 of 159

Hot Seat: Leading the Harrogate district’s leisure revolution

Public leisure centres in the Harrogate district are experiencing their greatest investment ever.

Harrogate Borough Council is spending more than £40m on new pools in Ripon and Knaresborough and on a major refurbishment of The Hydro in Harrogate.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, oversees 250 staff responsible for delivering services at these sites as well as several others.

Brimhams is the council-owned company set up last year to promote health and wellbeing in the district.

It operates swimming pools in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Pateley Bridge and Starbeck. All of these sites, except the magnificent old Starbeck Baths and the soon-to-be-rebuilt Knaresborough Pool, also have leisure or fitness centres.

Mark Tweedie with Jack Laugher at the opening of Ripon’s new facility.

Brimhams also oversees Fairfax Wellbeing and Community Hub in Harrogate, Jennyfield Styan Community Centre, a children’s nursery and the Harrogate Turkish Baths.

Mr Tweedie, 54, a former PE teacher with considerable experience of the leisure sector, was hired by the council in November 2020 to support the creation of Brimhams before transferring to his current role in July last year.

He says he was attracted by the council’s vision of using leisure to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the district, backed by its willingness to invest serious money to make it happen.

Difficult start

It hasn’t been an easy ride. There have been costly delays at the new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon due to sinkhole issues that long pre-date Mr Tweedie. A report due imminently will determine how much more work needs to be done before the site can fully open. He says:

“I’m absolutely confident it will be resolved. Yes, it’s been frustrating. I know customers have been desperate to come back since Spa Baths closed.”

There has been some discontent about the consultation and need for a new leisure centre in Knaresborough, where work is due to begin next month on a 65-week building programme due to finish in July next year.

How Knaresborough’s new pool will look.

Mr Tweedie says the transition from old to new site will be “seamless”, with the current facility operating until the new one opens — something that didn’t happen in Ripon, where the Spa Baths closed four months before the new pool opened due to delays.

Now there is the looming nine-month closure of The Hydro, which will leave Harrogate without a council-run pool.

Staffing has also been difficult — Brimhams has been consistently operating with 20 to 30 vacancies. Opening hours have been affected. Mr Tweedie says:

“It’s been a significant challenge, and it’s shared across the sector nationally.”

But there is little doubt that when all the projects are completed, the district’s facilities will be significantly better than they were pre-Brimhams. He says:

“We are through the worst and back on track and people in the Harrogate district and our staff have got a lot to look forward to.”

Aim to nearly double membership

The aim is to increase total membership at the sites in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough to 5,000 within six months of the new facilities opening. Membership totalled about 3,000 at its pre-covid peak so it would be a considerable achievement but Mr Tweedie is “very confident” of achieving it. He says 400 people joined the Ripon centre in the fortnight after it opened.

A computer generated image of how the Hydro would look.

How the refurbished Hydro will look.

Brimhams’s current monthly rate is £38.95. Customers at The Hydro are being offered a reduced rate of £32 to use the other sites while it is being refurbished. They will also be able to take part in group exercise sessions at the nearby Jennyfield Styan Community Centre.

Large private gym chains such as Pure Gym and Coach Gyms, which offer membership at about £20 a month, have extended their tentacles into the district, which can’t make life easy for council-run alternatives, but Mr Tweedie insists they are serving different markets.

“The private sector is dealing with the 15% that want to join a gym. The question is, what happens to the other 85%? How do we use public facilities to reach out to them?”

He talks about Brimhams taking “a more holistic approach” that leads to a “deeper and more purposeful relationship” with customers. People won’t come just to use the pool or gym, he says, but also to access a wider range of service that are being developed, such as mental health support, nutritional advice and mindfulness. It’s no coincidence that two Brimhams Active sites now include ‘wellbeing’ in their names — it’s clearly the way ahead.

A new software system, due to go live at the end of the month, will enable online booking and a “better digital relationship with customers”, as well as capturing footfall data that Brimhams can use to improve services.

Will it consider 24-hour opening, as many private gyms are? Mr Tweedie says:

“We have no plans for 24/7. We feel we can deal with our customer base between the hours of 6.30am and 10pm.”

Starbeck Baths

The scale of the council’s investment in leisure leads Mr Tweedie to say confidently there are no plans to reduce services or close Starbeck Baths, which is a constant threat to such an ageing facility. He adds:

“What the commercial approach is not about is reducing wages and staff and providing the bare bones of a service.”

All change next year

But his reassurances are tempered by the fact that Harrogate Borough Council will be abolished next year and control of Brimhams will transfer to the new North Yorkshire Council.

Brimhams staff will have a new employer from April 1 and, in time, a new strategy run by different managers.

Mr Tweedie, who lives in Morpeth and divides his time working from home and in the Harrogate district, says it could take at least a couple of years to implement whatever model the new council introduces so his role could exist for some time yet. He says:

“I want to deliver our three-year strategic plan and I am already working with other district leisure service leaders and North Yorkshire colleagues to manage the transition to the unitary authority.”

The important thing, he adds, is that customers don’t notice any sudden changes next year and that frontline staff, such as lifeguards and receptionists, are looked after. He says:

“It’s business as usual for us. We have a vision. We have a strategy. We have a plan we will deliver on that with a high level of tenacity.

Nidderdale Pool and Leisure Centre in Pateley Bridge.

Cosy Club plans new bar on Harrogate’s Cambridge Street

A new cocktail bar and restaurant is planned for Harrogate town centre.

Cosy Club, which is owned by Loungers Ltd, has applied to Harrogate Borough Council for a premises licence at 37 Cambridge Street.

Cambridge Street is home primarily to retailers, including Marks & Spencer, WH Smith and Sainsbury’s.

The chain describes itself on its website as a place for “relaxed dining, drinking and lounging in a fabulous, welcoming setting”.

It currently has bars in 31 cities across the country, including Albion Street in Leeds and Fossgate in York.

In its licensing application, Cosy Club has proposed opening hours of between 8am to 1am Monday to Wednesday and Sunday.

It has also proposed opening hours of 8am until 2am from Thursday to Saturday.

The application includes the sale of alcohol and late night refreshment.

The unit on Cambridge Street earmarked for Cosy Club.

The bar has also advertised for jobs online, including a head chef and general manager.

The Stray Ferret approached Loungers Ltd for details on an opening date, but it said it did not wish to comment at this time.

Harrogate council launches free 12-week weight loss programme for men

Harrogate Borough Council‘s leisure company has launched a free weight management programme to help men get active, eat well and lose weight.

Brimhams Active has been running the Fit4Life initiative in the Harrogate district for some time.

But this week it has launched a free programme for men-only funded by North Yorkshire County Council.

The 12-week programme starts on Monday, March 28 and takes places once a week at Jennyfield Styan Community Centre in Harrogate from 7.30pm to 9pm.

The first half of the session will involve an exercise class followed by nutrition advice.

Brimhams Active’s staff will teach residents about food choices to change their current behaviour and how to develop a healthy relationship with food.

The programme will provide information about goal setting and eating awareness, dieting and myth bunking meal planning, portion sizes and shopping guidance.

To join, you must be a male aged 18 and over and have a body mass index over 30 kg/m2 (25 BMI if you have co-morbidities or are from BAME group), be willing to commit to losing five per cent of body weight and have no uncontrolled co-morbidities.

Changing lifestyles

Matthew O’Sullivan, health and wellbeing development officer at Brimhams, said:

“Fit4Life is a fantastic weight management programme and we’ve had some really successful stories of people losing weight but more importantly completely changing their lifestyles for the better.

“We know men might be reluctant to attend a mixed Fit4Life session so have decided to launch a specific session on a Monday evening in Harrogate that will be really informal and a chance to take part in an exercise class as well as learn about to achieve healthy weight loss.”

To book a place, call 01423 556106 or email active.health@brimhamsactive.co.uk.

Knaresborough’s Philip Allott launches marketing book

Knaresborough man and former police commissioner Philip Allott has written a book on marketing.

Integrated Business to Business Marketing provides “a complete blueprint for success in communicating promotional messages in the digital age”.

Mr Allott, who founded PR company Allott and Associates in 1994, said the book builds on his “40 years of practical experience” of marketing.

It is written for business owners, directors and marketing managers in the UK and abroad and covers topics such as how material written for press releases can be used for social media platforms and e-newsletters.

Mr Allott is a former leader of the Conservatives on Harrogate Borough Council and a former Mayor of Knaresborough who stood unsuccessfully in several general elections for the Conservative Party.

He was elected North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in May last year but resigned in October in the wake of comments about the murder of Sarah Everard.

Mr Allott is also the author of The Donkeyman, which was published in 2007. It talks about the life and times of his donkey-breeding father, who was known as Donkey Dave.

His new book, which is distributed by John Hunt Publishing, will be available from next month on Amazon and at Waterstones.

Harrogate Hydro set to close for nine months

The Hydro in Harrogate will close for nine months on April 8 to undergo an £11.8m refurbishment.

The leisure centre and pool is to get a two-storey extension as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be new diving board equipment, a new fitness suite and the changing areas will be upgraded.

Members will be offered reduced rates to use other council-run leisure facilities in the district, as well as the opportunity to participate in group exercise sessions at the nearby Jennyfield Styan Community Centre.

The current £38.95 monthly charge will go down to £32.

A computer generated image of how the Hydro will look.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, which Harrogate Borough Council set up last year to run its leisure facilities, said the plan was to reopen the pool first in nine months time.

The other facilities, including the new fitness suite, are expected to be ready three months later.

Extend opening hours

Mr Tweedie said the refurbishment would give Brimhams Active the opportunity to redeploy staff at its other sites, which could enable some to extend their opening hours.

However, it will leave Harrogate without a council-run swimming pool for the rest of the year.

Brimhams also operates the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon, Knaresborough Pool, Starbeck Baths and Nidderdale Pool and Leisure Centre in Pateley Bridge.

It also operates the Turkish Baths in Harrogate, Fairfax Wellbeing and Community Hub in Harrogate, Jennyfield Styan Community Centre and Little Explorers Day Nursery at Harrogate Hydro.

Look for a full interview with Mark Tweedie about leisure services in the Harrogate district on the Stray Ferret this weekend.

DPD charged £374 for van driver’s Stray detour

Parcel delivery firm DPD has been charged £374 plus VAT for one of its vans damaging the Stray in Harrogate.

The Stray Ferret reported last month that a DPD van had got stuck in the mud when it attempted a shortcut over the public parkland

Tyre tracks indicated the driver had tried to bypass the recent road closure on Beech Grove by mounting the snow-covered Stray but was unable to complete the manoeuvre in the wintry conditions.

The Harrogate Stray Act 1985 made Harrogate Borough Council protector of the 200 acres of land.

A council spokesperson said:

“Following the damage caused in February, DPD have been charged £374 plus VAT to cover the costs of repairing The Stray.

“The ruts will be levelled and area seeded. Bulbs will also be planted to replace any that have been damaged.”

Beech Grove closed to through traffic just over a year ago on an 18-month trial basis.A DPD spokesperson said:

“I understand from the local depot that the team have been in contact with the council and that arrangements are being made to pay for repair work.”

The Stray Ferret asked the spokesperson if DPD had taken any action against the van driver, but has yet to receive a response.

A Twitter user called Helen was among those who uploaded photos of the beached van.

https://twitter.com/HellyR1/status/1495077805964595201?s=20&t=6_0_UnvruN9Y_DdG8wRA9w

Judy d’Arcy-Thompson, chairman of the Stray Defence Association, which was set up in 1933 to safeguard the Stray from encroachment, said she hoped the van driver had not lost their job.

She added:

“However, it was a very daft thing to do.

“Taking short cuts in bad weather almost inevitably ends in disaster of some sort. Taking one in snow across the Stray was foolish in the extreme and also caused a great deal of damage, plus being illegal.

“Let’s hope that others take note and a lesson has been learned.”

Pure Gym to open in former Knaresborough supermarket

A Pure Gym is set to open in a former Knaresborough covid vaccine centre and Lidl supermarket.

The Lidl on York Road closed in 2018 when the supermarket relocated to a larger site nearby.

In February 2021, the site was taken over by Homecare Pharmacy Services, which administered thousands of covid jabs from a building in the car park until it moved in September last year to larger premises on Knaresborough’s Chain Lane.

In January this year, Harrogate Borough Council granted planning permission to convert the site into a gym.

Now, documents submitted to the council have confirmed that national fitness chain, Pure Gym, will move into the site.

Pure Gym has lodged an application to the council to operate opening hours from 6am until 11pm, Monday to Sunday.

The company does not plan to increase the size inside the former Lidl unit and will instead use the existing space for the gym.

The council will make a decision on the opening hours at a later date.

The new gym would become Pure Gym’s second in the Harrogate district. The company operates a 24-hour facility on Harrogate’s Tower Street.

Why more construction challenges lie ahead for Ripon leisure centre

There were celebrations at Ripon’s Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre this month when a multi-million pound swimming pool opened after months of costly delays.

It was hailed as a “major development” by Harrogate Borough Council, which invited the city’s three-time Olympic medalist to officially open the new facility that proudly displays his name above the main entrance.

The opening on March 2 was also welcomed by residents who were left without a pool for months after the closure of Ripon Spa Baths in November.

Jack Laugher holds his Olympic gold medal at the opening.

But attention is now turning to the outcome of an investigation into ground conditions beneath the older half of the leisure centre where an underground void was discovered in 2020.

The investigation by engineering firm Stantec could end next week and will be followed by a report setting out what reinforcement works will be required ahead of the completion of the venue’s redevelopment project, which is nine months overdue and £4million over budget, and included the new pool.

A spokesperson for the council said:

“These investigations began in February and should be finished in the coming week.

“Once they have been completed, we will have a comprehensive understanding of what is required to ensure people in Ripon can keep fit and active for years to come.

“Should remedial work be required, the final stages of the investment project – predominantly to the ground floor of the existing leisure centre – will be completed once this work has been carried out.”

The underground void was discovered in 2020, but only became public knowledge last May when the £110,000 investigation was agreed by councillors.

This was followed by an initial report from Stantec last November which was described as “sobering reading” by council leader Richard Cooper.

‘Significant deterioration’

The report suggested there had been a “significant deterioration” of the ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre, which was built in 1995 and like much of Ripon sits on gypsum deposits.

It also said piles were not driven deep enough into the ground during the initial construction and that it remained unclear why this happened as “many critical records” were missing.

The report added strengthening works could include steelworks, thickened floors and grouting where mortar is pumped into the ground – the same method “successfully” used to stabilise the new pool.

However, it said strengthening alone is “unlikely to mitigate risks to acceptable levels” and that other measures would be required, including long-term monitoring.

The new Ripon swimming pool.

The council decided to build the pool next to the leisure centre in 2019 despite some councillors raising “deep concerns” about ground stability at the site where a sinkhole opened up the previous year.

‘Safe to use’

The council has continually insisted that professional advice has made it clear that the site is “safe to use”.

But what remains to be seen are the crucial conclusions of the ongoing investigation, which is likely to stretch the project further into this year.

Ripon Independents councillor Pauline McHardy said while she and many residents were “delighted” with the new pool, it was now key that any extra costs and delays were kept to a minimum.

She said:

“We must remember that a sinkhole appeared on the land prior to the work starting, so Harrogate Borough Council knew the risk they were taking of building on that land rather than elsewhere in Ripon.

“I hope the remainder of the work can be completed quickly and with minimal further cost to deliver the combined leisure and swimming facility that Ripon was promised.”

‘Irrecoverable’ housing debts written off by Harrogate council doubles

The amount of “irrecoverable” housing debts written off by Harrogate Borough Council has almost doubled this year.

A total of £61,853 in debts owed to the council have been crossed off for 2021/22 – almost twice as much as the £32,277 in 2020/21 and the largest amount in at least the last six years.

A council spokesperson said the increase was mostly down to debts owed by temporary accommodation users who have stayed at council hostels, houses and flats across the district, but were no longer traceable.

The spokesperson also said a large amount of the debts were owed by council tenants who died and had no assets to pay what they owed.

The spokesperson said:

“There are a number of reasons we have decided to write off the debt from former council tenants. The majority of these come from either tenants that have sadly passed away or tenants who left their property and remain untraceable.

“In both instances, there is almost no way that this can be recovered and, if it could, may ultimately cost more than the outstanding debt to try and do so.

“The vast majority of the increase – compared to last year – is due to the level of rent debt being written off for former temporary accommodation tenants.

“If the former tenant applies for council housing at a future date the arrears can still be recovered.”

Before any debts over £500 are recommended for write off, the council said at least two searches are carried out using tools such as the National Anti Fraud Network before further checks are made for housing benefit or waiting list applications.

Meanwhile, the majority of debts under £500 are considered to be “too small to make the cost of recovery action worthwhile,” the council said.

Largest debt £2,903

There were almost 100 incidents where council tenants had died in 2021/22, with the debts totalling almost £19,000.

The single largest debt was £2,903 owed by a temporary accommodation user who was considered to be untraceable after ending their stay.

A decision to write off all of the debts – some of which predate this year – was taken by the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for resources, enterprise and economic development, Cllr Graham Swift, at a meeting on Monday.

Cllr Graham Swift

A report to Cllr Swift said the council had made “sufficient bad debt provision” in its finances to accommodate the write offs and that this would not impact on its spending plans.

It also said the amount of the provision made will be reviewed and increased if necessary for any future write offs.

The council spokesperson added:

“The total arrears represent less than 0.5% of the annual housing debit.

“The money is a loss to the housing revenue account, which is funded almost entirely from rent income from tenants, rather than through council tax.”

Developer appeals decision to reject Harrogate district eco-homes

A developer has appealed a decision to refuse plans for nine new eco-homes near Flaxby.

Holmes Planning Ltd submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council for the development in October 2021.

It would have seen houses built to environmental standards and include solar panels, air-source heat pumps and super-tight insulation.

It also included self-build and custom homes on the site at York Road in Flaxby.

The council rejected the plan on the grounds that it was outside the development boundary, the affect on the character of the area and because the number of homes was below the council’s requirement per hectare.

However, the developer has appealed the decision to the government.

In documents submitted for the challenge, the developer argued that there was not enough custom build developments in the district.

It said:

“The appellant submits that the custom self-build deficit is so severe, and likely to get worse, that this material consideration outweighs any departure from the Harrogate District Local Plan and that the appeal site is suitable for custom self-build and the appeal, if allowed, would be secured for custom self-build through the Unilateral Undertaking.”

A government planning inspector will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Difficult start

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Aim to nearly double membership

All change next year

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Changing lifestyles

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Extend opening hours

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‘Significant deterioration’

‘Safe to use’

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Largest debt £2,903

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