Knaresborough Leisure Centre Archives

Free gym classes for children in Harrogate and Knaresborough this month

Children and young people can access free fitness classes in Harrogate and Knaresborough this month.

The move comes after North Yorkshire Council said this week it hopes to encourage young people to “get active” following statistics released by Sport England.

In a press release, the council said the data showed 2.2 million young people do less than 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

To tackle the problem locally, the authority is offering free fitness classes throughout May at the two Brimhams Active-run leisure centres, which reopened last year following a multi-million-pound revamp.

Children aged six to 12 can take advantage of the offer.

The council’s corporate director for community development, Nic Harne, said:

“We have a wide range of programmes and activities for children in all our leisure centres as we foster increased participation which is not only good for their health and wellbeing but encourages social activities too.

“Those classes range from our learn to swim programmes and junior gym sessions to our new music classes in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

“We also have a range of local sports clubs that deliver variety of sports and fun sessions in our swimming pools and sports halls.”

The council said the ‘Born to Move’ classes will offer sessions merging movement and play to “experience the joy and vitality of moving to music”.

One of the teachers, Zoe Murray, added:

“These are really great classes for getting young people into a group exercise environment and feeling really comfortable with it at a young age. All the kids have a great time.”

The offer is free throughout May and sessions will cost £5 thereafter. Born to Move classes will be broken down by age groups.

Sessions will be held on Fridays at 5pm in Harrogate and 10.30am on Saturdays in Knaresborough.

VIDEO: First look at new £17.5m Knaresborough leisure centre

Knaresborough Leisure Centre opens to the public next Monday, December 11.

However, the Stray Ferret had a sneak peek this morning.

The Knaresborough site includes a six-lane 25-metre pool, a leisure pool and slide and a 60-station fitness suite.

There is also a studio for group fitness classes, a group cycling studio, a sauna and steam room, and a café.

The sauna.

A children’s outdoor play area is still in the works but is expected to open in January 2024.

The leisure centre has been built next to the former Knaresborough swimming pool, which was built in 1990.

It was last refurbished 20 years ago. Its opening marks a third addition to the local Brimhams Active centres.

The steam room.

Knaresborough Leisure Centre is a North Yorkshire Council-led project.

It is part of a £47.9 million investment into leisure provisions, which also include the newly developed Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre and the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon.

The site offers immersive spin classes.

Cllr Simon Myers, executive councillor for culture, arts and housing at North Yorkshire Council, told the Stray Ferret today:

“You come over the brow of the hill in Knaresborough and see the leisure centre building – it is such an attractive building.

“It sits so well in its space, it’s full of light and the facilities are fantastic.

“This is what local authorities can achieve. It’s a real asset to Knaresborough.”

Opening date for £17.5m Knaresborough leisure centre revealed

Knaresborough’s new £17.5 million leisure and wellness centre will open on December 11.

The centre includes a six-lane 25-metre pool, a leisure pool with flume and a 60-station fitness suite.

There is also a studio for group fitness classes, a bespoke group cycling studio, sauna and steam rooms, a café and an outdoor children’s play area.

The centre has been developed next to the old Knaresborough Pool, which was built in 1990 and last refurbished 20 years ago.

Work on the exterior of the site.

The changing room area.

Cllr Simon Myers, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for culture and leisure, said:

“I am delighted that we have an opening date for this exciting new leisure provision for Knaresborough – it’s a perfect Christmas gift for the town.

“The local community had long outgrown the old pool – there was a call for fitness provision as well as spaces for classes and post workout relaxation spaces.

“By shifting the service offer from conventional swimming pool provision to a community health and wellbeing service we aim to help people move more, live well, feel great and reduce the proportion of the population that is physically inactive.”

The project is part of a wider £47.9 million investment in leisure provision, including the recently completed refurbishment of Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre and the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon.

All the centres are managed day-to-day by Brimhams Active, the council’s health and wellbeing company.

‘No plan or intention’ to sell Starbeck Baths, says council

Harrogate Borough Council has said it has “no plans” to sell Starbeck Baths after the Hydro is refurbished and the new Knaresborough Leisure Centre is built.

The council is currently carrying out an £11 million refurbishment of Harrogate Hydro and building a new £17 million leisure centre in Knaresborough.

The move has led to speculation on social media the authority will sell the Victorian baths in Starbeck after the projects are finished.

However, Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the council, said there were no plans to offload the facility.

He said:

“I can confirm Harrogate Borough Council has no plan or intention to close or dispose of Starbeck pool, and our investment strategy building the new pool and wellness centres in Ripon and in Knaresborough and the extension and refurbishments at the Hydro is not reliant on closure of any site managed by Brimhams Active.”

The facility is one of 10 centres run by the council-owned leisure company, Brimham’s Active.

The council has earmarked an opening date of May 2023 for the Harrogate Hydro.

It would be a month after the council is abolished and replaced by North Yorkshire Council.

Work on the Hydro, which is being led by Bristol-based Alliance Leisure, is ongoing to create a 400 square metre fitness suite, a sauna and steam suite, improved reception and café.

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

Meanwhile, the new leisure centre in Knaresborough is due to open in August 2023.

Construction is continuing on the project which will see a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage created.

New £17m Knaresborough leisure centre starts to take shape

The steel frame for the new leisure and wellness centre on King James Road in Knaresborough is starting to take shape.

The centre, which is due to open at the end of next summer, will include a six-lane 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and cycle storage.

It is being built next to the current leisure centre, which will stay open until the new facility is ready.

Harrogate Borough Council, which is funding the project, previously said this will be in July next year.

Once it opens, the existing pool will be demolished and replaced by a new play area, which is due to take a further 15 weeks.

The council has appointed Bristol-based firm Alliance Leisure to carry out construction work.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, the council’s cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, said in a statement today:

“This new facility for Knaresborough will be a fantastic asset for the town and shows our commitment to investing in leisure provision across the district.”

Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre (October) 02 (1)

Councillors Stanley Lumley (left) and Phil Ireland

Councillor Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability and borough councillor for the Knaresborough Aspin and Calcutt ward, said the centre would be “a brilliant addition for the town of Knaresborough”, adding:

“What is also so important is the fact it will be built to BREEAM standard of ‘Excellent’, ensuring that is as energy-efficient as possible to help us achieve our net-zero emissions target.”

The BREEAM standard is based on an assessment of the building’s sustainability and energy performance.

Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre (October) 01 (1)

Councillors Phil Ireland and Stanley Lumley with project manager Julian Donnelly.

Civic society view

The centre will be powered by air source heat pumps and solar panels to reduce the carbon footprint.

Andy Grinter, secretary of Knaresborough Civic Society, said it was pleased the centre was not going to be run on gas.

Speaking after a recent civic society visit to the site, Mr Grinter said it was also heartened to hear the council planned to appoint local caterers.

He aded:

“We were disappointed by some aspects of the planning process; in particular the lack of interaction by Harrogate council officers, who appear to have taken decisions without any consultation with residents eg the design of the new play area, which has it seems already been designed, bought and paid for.”

He said senior manager “gave us reassurances that it is on time and on budget” but the society was surprised to discover the centre is only expected to have a shelf life of 25 to 30 years.

Mr Grinter also said the society remained unconvinced there was a need for a new centre and was disappointed by the modern design, close to Knaresborough conservation area. He said:

“I don’t think we will ever be happy about the look of it.”

Main photo shows Councillors Stanley Lumley and Phil Ireland, Alliance Leisure business development manager Sean Nolan and ISG project manager Julian Donnelly.

Harrogate Hydro set to reopen in May 2023

Harrogate Hydro looks set to reopen in May next year following an £11 million refurbishment.

Construction is earmarked to finish in April, but Harrogate Borough Council has set an opening for May — a month after when the authority will be abolished.

The council provided an update today on the Hydro as well as progress on the new leisure centre in Knaresborough.

Work on the Hydro, which is being led by Bristol-based Alliance Leisure, is ongoing to create a 400 square metre fitness suite, a sauna and steam suite, improved reception and café.

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

Meanwhile, the existing gas boilers have been replaced with air source heat pumps and 250 solar panels, as well as new metering and energy monitoring and control systems.

Representatives from Axiom, Alliance Leisure and ISG with Councillor Stanley Lumley and Mark Tweedie.

However, the strip out at the facilities has revealed some remedial work is required, such as the fire protection of the steel frame, the addition of wall restraints, replacement of corroded steelwork, re-securing of soffit boarding and resolving air leakage and heat loss between the roof and the external walls.

Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the council, said:

“Refurbishment projects often discover things that need to be resolved to adhere to current building regulations.

“By carrying out the work now, the building can conform to the latest legislation and be as energy-efficient as possible, which will allow people across the Harrogate district to keep fit and active for many years to come.”

Knaresborough Leisure Centre

Work being carried out on Knaresborough pool.

Work being carried out on Knaresborough leisure centre.

The new leisure centre in Knaresborough is due to open in August 2023.

Construction is continuing on the project which will see a six-lane 25metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage created.

Both facilities are due to be managed by the council-controlled Brimhams Active once complete, although its future is unclear due to the impending abolition of Harrogate Borough Council.

Mark Tweedie, managing director of Brimhams Active, said:

“This unprecedented level of investment from Harrogate Borough Council will allow Brimhams Active to further transform from a conventional leisure provider to a comprehensive health and wellbeing company and truly maximise its offer to residents across the Harrogate district.

“And by doing so we can ensure people of all ages, from all walks of life, will be able to live a healthy lifestyle and stay active for longer.”

Pictures show progress of £28m Harrogate Hydro and Knaresborough Leisure Centre works

Works are well underway on two major projects to renovate Harrogate Hydro and build a new leisure centre in Knaresborough.

The projects will cost around £28 million in total and are being run by Harrogate Borough Council with construction works carried out by Bristol-based firm Alliance Leisure.

Harrogate Hydro shut to the public in April and has now been stripped out and partly demolished as part of a £11.8 million investment.

The works include the construction of a two-storey extension, as well as a new entrance, cafe, reception area, diving board structure, fitness suite and refurbished changing rooms.

David Hawcroft, project manager at Harrogate Borough Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the strip out of the building had revealed the need for some extra works, although this was “to be expected” for a project of this size.

Work on Harrogate’s Hydro.

The extra works required include the replacement of corroded steelwork and improvements to the fire protection of the steel frame.

It is anticipated that the project will be completed by next April, with reopening the following month.

Once complete, the Hydro will no longer use gas and will run completely on electricity with the use of air source heat pumps and 420 solar panels.

Meanwhile, foundations have been set at Fysche Field in Knaresborough in preparation for the steel structure of the new £17 million leisure centre which will have a six-lane swimming pool, health spa and fitness studios.

It is being built behind the existing Knaresborough Pool which will be demolished.

The council previously said it aims to complete the new leisure centre next July, before demolishing the old pool by the following October.

Solar panels on the Harrogate Hydro.

The project was approved earlier this year despite concerns over the environmental impact of demolishing a large building to replace it with another.

Jonathan Dunk, chief development officer at the council, previously described the 30-year-old Knaresborough Pool as “at the end of its working life” and argued more swimming and exercise space was needed for the town’s growing population.

In Ripon, the city’s new swimming pool at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre has been open for six months and resulted in a big uplift in membership numbers.

Work being carried out on Knaresborough leisure centre.

However, the ongoing refurbishment of the older half of the venue has been plagued with issues caused by underground voids found at the site.

The council’s cabinet recently approved remedial groundworks which will cost £3.5 million and push the total costs of the entire project above £18 million.

The original contract awarded to construction company Willmott Dixon was worth £10.2 million for the project which was originally due for completion in May 2021.

Work on Harrogate Hydro and Knaresborough leisure centre to start next month

Two major projects to renovate Harrogate Hydro and build a new leisure centre in Knaresborough will get underway next month.

Harrogate Borough Council is behind the plans which will cost around £28 million and see the construction works carried out by Bristol-based firm Alliance Leisure.

The Hydro will get an £11.8 million investment, including a two-storey extension of the building, as well as a new entrance, cafe and reception area.

There will also be a new diving board structure, fitness suite and refurbished changing areas.

The venue will close on April 8 and the project will be phased to allow for the pool hall area to be brought back into use “as soon as possible in early 2023,” the council said.

It also said it anticipated all of the works will be completed by April 2023.

Meanwhile, some grounds works are already underway at Fysche Field in Knaresborough where a new £17 million leisure centre complete with a six-lane pool, health spa and fitness studios will be built as a replacement for the existing Knaresborough Pool.

It will be built behind the existing pool which will remain open during the works before being demolished.

The council said the new leisure centre will take 65 weeks to build with completion in July 2023.

After this, the demolition works will take a further 15 weeks with completion in October 2023.

Proposals for the Knaresborough Leisure Centre.

These proposals were approved last month despite concerns over the environmental impact of demolishing a large building to replace it with another.

However, Jonathan Dunk, chief development officer at the council, described the 30-year-old Knaresborough Pool as “at the end of its working life” and said more swimming space was needed for the town’s growing population.

He previously said:

“We need to renew rather than refurbish the existing facility because it is old and there is inadequate water space.

“We also want to upgrade to make the most of the energy performance of the new building.”

In Ripon, the opening of the city’s new multi-million pound swimming pool was finally celebrated on 2 March after months of costly delays.

The project was nine months overdue and £4 million over budget, and refurbishment works on the adjoining Ripon Leisure Centre are still underway after the discovery of an underground void prompted the need for an investigation.

The investigation by engineering firm Stantec was due to finish earlier this month and a report setting out what reinforcement works will be required will now follow.

Stantec previously suggested there had been a “significant deterioration” of the ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre and that strengthening works could include steelworks, thickened floors and grouting – the same method “successfully” used to stabilise the new pool.

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.

23 trees in Knaresborough to be felled this week for new leisure centre

A total of 23 trees will be chopped down in Knaresborough this week to make way for the town’s new £17 million leisure centre.

Fencing has been placed around the affected area, which includes the play area where the new centre will be built. Work to remove the trees is expected to begin today and take five days.

Once work is completed, the play area will reopen.

A letter from Harrogate Borough Council to councillors says the trees “will be replaced in due course with native species at a ratio of at least 2:1 – either on Fysche Field or in Knaresborough”.

It adds:

“Much of the wood removed will be turned into wood chippings and used in the parks and open spaces we manage.

“The larger trunks that can’t be chipped will also be used in other ways such as natural bases for signs, benches or habitat creation to ensure the continuation of biodiversity on site.

“The carbon capture of these younger native trees, along with the removed trees being repurposed, will encourage wildlife and ecosystems for years to come.”

The council is undertaking the work as part of a scheme to build a larger leisure and wellness centre in Knaresborough.

The local authority approved its own plans last week to build the new centre, which will include a six-lane, 25-metre pool, activity pool with flume, sauna and steam room, fitness suite and studio, spin studio, café, electric car charging points and bicycle storage.

Its letter to councillors says work on the centre will “start in the coming weeks”.

The centre will be built on the site of the existing play area, and slightly beyond. To compensate for its loss, another play area will be built in front of the new facility.

‘Bit of a shock to people’

Andrew Willoughby, a Liberal Democrat who represents Eastfield on Knaresborough Town Council, said it was sad to lose any trees but the plans were reasonable because of the wider benefits of the scheme and the fact that twice as many new trees will be planted.

Cllr Willoughby added that the majority of trees to be lost were planted about 30 years ago when the current pool was built. He said:

“Losing 23 trees is a bit of a shock to people. It’s sad to see any trees go. But I think what they are doing is quite reasonable.”

Cllr Willoughby added it was necessary to remove the trees quickly before birds started nesting in them in a few weeks.

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Civic society view

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Knaresborough Leisure Centre

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Difficult start

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Aim to nearly double membership

All change next year

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‘Bit of a shock to people’