Readers’ Letters: Harrogate GP moving to online requests is ‘totally unfair’Readers’ Letters is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.
This letter comes after a Harrogate GP practice moved the majority of its requests process online. It has since been accused of discriminating against older people.
Reading about the surgery wanting patients to submit letters and prescriptions mainly online made me annoyed.
Although elderly myself, I am computer literate and not at all bad! But my husband’s claim to fame is that he has never touched a computer and has no interest in technology.
Without me, he’d be stumped.
Fortunately, our great surgery prints out the prescriptions for your next month of medication.
It is totally unfair that so many things must be done online when there are probably thousands of people, like my husband, who have no idea how to use a computer.
Sandra Goldberg, Harrogate
Is it a coincidence Knaresborough’s drains are now being cleared?
This letter comes after some of Knaresborough’s gullies were reportedly cleared this week. It follows severe flooding in the town earlier this month, which forced some people to evacuate their homes.
How strange; we are told the drains weren’t to blame for the Knaresborough flooding, yet suddenly jetting equipment is seen all over the town this week.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
I have reported blocked drains in the town for several years and I always receive the same reply: “we are looking into it”.
Nothing ever gets done until a tragedy ensues.
Ralph Thrower, Knaresborough
How much more money will be ‘wasted’ on Ripon Leisure Centre?
This letter responds to news of an additional £2m being poured into stabilisation works at Ripon Leisure Centre. The total spent on the remedial work is now nearing the original budget for the actual project.
How much more money is going to be wasted on underpinning Ripon Leisure Centre?
Anyone with any knowledge of Ripon could have informed the shower of a council that the ground was not suitable.
When is this total waste of money going to stop? Yet another folly in Ripon’s long list of botched projects.
Tony Sidwell, Ripon
Re-wilding on Harrogate street looks ‘awful’
This letter comes after strips of the Stray have been re-wilded in line with a council policy.
I do not object to re-wilding as such – but not in a residential area.
I live on Westminster Drive and there is a small semi-circular area on the corner of Burn Bridge Oval and my road, which belongs to the council and has been left to re-wild as of last year.
It looks awful. It’s now full of dandelions and buttercups that are getting bigger every day. The seeds from these plants have blown into nearby gardens and dog walkers allow their dogs to “perform” in the long grass.
This is definitely not a suitable place to allow re-wilding and the council should mow it regularly and thoroughly – not just around the edge.
I’m sure I am not the only one to dislike this way of reducing council expenses and causing residents lots of extra work!
Alison Roscoe, Harrogate
Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.
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Council has pumped almost 3,000 tonnes of grout into Ripon voidNorth Yorkshire Council has revealed it has pumped almost 3,000 tonnes of grout into a void underneath Ripon leisure centre as part of ground stabilisation works that began last summer and have cost £3.4 million to date.
The Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre opened in March 2022 but whilst the pool is in use, plans for a gym at the previously built leisure centre on the same site were delayed after an underground void was discovered.
This prompted an investigation by engineering firm Stantec, which found evidence of multiple voids and “significantly weak” areas of ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre that was built in 1995.
It warned that not carrying out remedial repairs would be “unacceptable from a public safety perspective”.
Ripon is susceptible to voids and sinkholes because it lies on a layer of water-soluble rock called gypsum.
North Yorkshire Council began works to stabilise the ground last summer by pumping it with grout.
A council spokesperson said that as of this month, 2,810 tonnes of grout has been used during the works, costing £3.4m.
They were unable to say exactly when the work will finish, only that it would be this year.
It means a temporary gym costing £300,000 that was erected in the leisure centre’s car park last year will remain open, despite the council previously insisting it would be removed by March 2024.
Retired chartered engineer Stanley Mackintosh campaigned against the site being used for the leisure centre due to the gypsum issues.
Mr Mackintosh told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the ground stabilisation works has become a literal example of a “sunk cost fallacy” for the council. He said he also has concerns about its environmental impact.
He said:
“The works are essentially ineffective and structurally dangerous, but I’m also concerned about the related release of thousands of tonnes of CO2 into our atmosphere during that process.”
The topic of the leisure centre was raised at a recent mayoral hustings event held by Zero Carbon Harrogate.
Independent candidate Keith Tordoff described the works as resulting from “gross incompetence” by leaders at the now defunct Harrogate Borough Council, which chose the site, and North Yorkshire Council.
He said:
“They knew about the sinkholes around Ripon and were advised about it. It’s a disaster and typical of the council. They are pumping our money into it.”
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Kerry Metcalfe, the council’s assistant director for property, said:
“The ground stabilisation work underway involves pumping grout into voids under the ground. These works are expected to be completed later this year and are necessary to make the leisure centre building safe so that it can be refurbished and re-opened for public use.
“The cost for this work so far is £3.4m. Refurbishment work to the leisure centre was paused when the need for ground remediation work was identified and will therefore be finished after completion of the ground stabilisation works.
“The nature of the work is complex and is under constant review, reopening dates will be announced when they are confirmed.”
‘Multiple cracks’ detected at Ripon leisure centreAn investigation into movements at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has discovered multiple cracks up to 10mm long.
A £3.5 million scheme to stabilise the site began in June following the discovery of a “void” in the sinkhole-prone area. It brought the cost of the leisure centre to £18 million — £8 million above budget.
The work, which was due to end in spring, was paused this month when land movements were detected.
North Yorkshire Council, which owns the site, said on Friday its checks had revealed cracks have appeared.
It said the cracks have affected the “weathertightness of the building and the operation of doors and windows” but added specialists had said there were no safety concerns.
Nevertheless, the estimated completion date and project costs are now “under review”.
Work at the site.
It means members will continue to use a temporary gym in the car park and attend group classes at Hugh Ripley Hall in the city centre indefinitely.
The new building, which includes the swimming pool, sauna and steam room, has remained open throughout.
Damage mainly ‘aesthetic’
The council said in a statement on Friday:
“Following the site inspection of the original section of Ripon sports centre on Friday, September 15 by a technical specialist it was observed that in general, the degree of damage that has occurred to the building since the original inspection last year as a result of the compaction grouting operations would be classified as aesthetic.
“The exception to this was the ground floor internal wall near to the main ground floor entrance at the north end of the building.
“Here there are multiple cracks up to 10mm wide which are classed as serviceability issues, affecting the weathertightness of the building and the operation of doors and windows.”
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The statement added:
“Specialists have confirmed that none of the cracking observed during the site visit would be cause for concern from a safety point of view.
“The building is currently weathertight and cracks will be assessed at the end of the project and appropriate repairs made.
“A system of level monitoring has been installed within the building so that it can be monitored for movement and grouting adjusted or stopped when certain movements are reached.”
Grouting work resumed at the site on October 13. Asked whether the latest issues had affected the completion date or cost of the project, the council said:
“The estimated completion date and project costs are currently under review.”
‘Far from ideal’ situation
Cllr Andrew Williams, a member of the Conservative and Independents group at North Yorkshire Council and the leader of Ripon City Council, said last year it was time to stop “throwing good money after bad” and to “look for a suitable location for a new leisure centre to be built on sound land”.
Asked about the discovery of cracks, he said:
“The building is under very close monitoring to ensure that there is no movement as the works progress, if there is movement then the position will have to be reviewed in the light of that information.
“The situation is far from ideal and I hope that it will prove possible to complete these works because the bottom line is that Ripon needs a functioning leisure centre.”
Ripon leisure centre work halted after ground movement detectedA £3.5 million scheme to stabilise the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has been halted because of new suspected land movement.
Groundwork began in June following the discovery of a “void” beneath the former leisure centre building in the sinkhole-prone area.
Members have had to use a temporary gym in the car park and attend group classes at Hugh Ripley Hall in the city centre while remediation work takes place at the old building.
The new building, which includes a swimming pool, sauna and steam room has remained open.
The new building on the site remains open.
Work was due to finish in spring next year but the latest discovery may jeopardise that — and spark fresh questions about the wisdom of choosing the site and continuing to spend money stabilising the land despite sinkhole fears.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if work had been halted after noticing a lack of activity in recent weeks.
Jo Ireland, the council’s assistant director for culture and leisure, said:
“Our contractors have temporarily paused groundworks at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre as a precautionary measure while they investigate and assess signs of movement that have appeared in the internal blockwork of the existing building.
“A specialist engineer has advised the movement is predominantly aesthetic with no grounds for concern over the safety of the building.
“We will be installing a monitoring system on site in the next few days to detect any further movement that may occur. This system will give us the data we need to allow us to restart work later this month.
“We would only need to pause work again should the monitoring system detect additional significant movement, at which point further assessment of the situation would take place.”
‘Throwing good money after bad’
In October last year Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, who also represents Ripon Minster and Moorside on North Yorkshire Council, said it was time to stop “throwing good money after bad” and and “look for a suitable location for a new leisure centre to be built on sound land”.
He accused the now-defunct Harrogate Borough Council, which took the decision to build on the site, of “blindly and belligerently pouring money into propping up a centre that is nearly 30 years old and there is no guarantee that more funding won’t be needed after remediation works begin”.
Cllr Williams added:
“These works would take the total spending on this project to £18 million – some £8 million above the original budget – and they can’t continue ploughing money into this site, with its known history of ground stability issues, including a sinkhole that opened up on the leisure centre car park in 2018.”
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Ripon leisure centre halts price increase due to ongoing workA price increase at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon has been halted after complaints from customers prompted a councillor to intervene.
Brimhams Active, the company that runs leisure centres in the Harrogate district on behalf of North Yorkshire Council, recently increased its monthly membership fees.
The council has spent £45 million on upgrading facilities in the district and this week re-opened the former Hydro under the new name Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre.
But the decision to increase the monthly membership fee at Ripon by £6.50 led to a backlash because customers are still using a temporary gym in the car park due to the delayed completion of ground stabilisation work on the old part of the building.
Group exercise classes are being provided offsite at Hugh Ripley Hall.
Work remains ongoing at Ripon leisure centre.
Mark Tweedie, managing director at Brimhams Active, said recent upgrades meant it now offered “significantly improved swim, gym and group exercise opportunities” but membership fees had increased.
He added:
“Although significant investment has been made to deliver a new state of the art leisure facility in Ripon comprising of a new swimming pool, sauna/steam experience and new gym equipment, following customer feedback we have acknowledged that the membership offer remains comparatively limited due to the delayed works to refurbish the ground floor facilities which will include upgraded group exercise studios.
“Therefore, we have committed to holding back on increasing the price of our all-inclusive membership for Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre customers until we are confident the offer is comparable to our other facilities.”
Cllr Andrew Williams
Cllr Andrew Williams, a member of the Conservative and Independents group on North Yorkshire Council who represents Ripon Minster and Moorside, raised residents’ concerns with the council.
Cllr Williams said the council had agreed not to proceed with the £6.50 monthly price hike in Ripon. He said:
“I welcome following my intervention the decision to withdraw plans to increase the fees in September and to revisit the whole situation when the facilities in Ripon are comparable with those elsewhere in the area.
“This is a clear example of the council listening to the concerns raised by residents and seeking to respond positively and swiftly to address their concerns.”
Cllr Williams added:
“Any future decision on the fees at Ripon leisure centre will have to be subject of appropriate consultation.”
‘Fantastic value’
Harrogate Leisure and Wellness Centre opened this week.
Mr Tweedie said Brimhams Active’s all-inclusive monthly membership fee, which allows unlimited swim, gym and group exercise at all of its facilities, “represents fantastic value which we have been able to achieve despite significantly increased operational costs”. It costs £44.95 a month or £35.95 for concessions at non-Ripon sites.
Besides new facilities in Ripon and Harrogate, the gym at Nidderdale Leisure and Wellness Centre in Pateley Bridge has been refurbished and the new Knaresborough Leisure and Wellness Centre is due to open this year.
Mr Tweedie added:
“We also bringing a new leading edge customer offer for people who take out a Brimhams Active membership. This involves a range of new, more personalised, services designed to support members with a holistic approach to help them achieve their health and wellbeing goals to be their best selves.”
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£3.5 million remediation work underway at Ripon leisure centre
Remediation works costing £3.5 million are underway at the Ripon leisure centre building which closed in late April.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director for culture, leisure, archives and libraries, Jo Ireland, said:
“We can confirm the ground stabilisation works at the former Ripon Leisure Centre have now started.”
Hoardings and fencing have been put in place around the 28 year old leisure centre building.
He added:
“These works came about following the discovery of a void underneath part of the original leisure centre.
“The void is understood to have been present for a number of years and was discovered when the reinforced concrete slab, which provides the foundation for the new swimming pool, was cast.
“By addressing these historic issues, it allows us the opportunity to ensure future generations will be able to access modern sport and leisure facilities in their city for many years to come.
“Once the works have been completed the original leisure centre facility can be refurbished as planned – which includes an extended gym, two new activity studios, a spin studio as well as meeting facilities – and complement the 25 metre, six-lane swimming pool that opened last year.”
Work is scheduled to go on until spring 2024 and in the meantime a temporary gym will remain in use on the car park near the entrance to the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre.
The £300,000 facility, operated by Brimhams Active on behalf of North Yorkshire Council, includes Technogym equipment.
Customers are able to use the changing and shower facilities at the swimming pool as well as the sauna and steam suite. Group exercise classes continue to be provided at Hugh Ripley Hall.
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Council dashes hopes of new learner swimming pool for RiponNorth Yorkshire Council has said it has no plans to build a learner pool in Ripon following calls by local councillors and residents.
There have been hopes in the city that a facility to help children under four learn to swim could be built by the new council despite the now-abolished Harrogate Borough Council opening the £18m Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre on Dallamires Lane only two years ago.
The new facility has a six-lane pool — but not a smaller pool.
Critics say this forces families with young children to go to Knaresborough, Harrogate or even further afield for swimming lessons.
Parents who formed Ripon Pool Action Group published a survey last year that found there are over 1,000 children of pre-school age living in the Ripon area that could benefit from a learner pool.
At a meeting of Ripon City Council last week, council leader Andrew Williams, who also sits on North Yorkshire Council as an independent, said the city council would be writing to the new authority asking it to commit to building the pool.
But Nic Harne, North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of community development, said the new council, which is looking to make savings, has no plans to build a learner pool.
Mr Harne said:
“Residents will understand that it is extremely expensive to build and maintain swimming pools so the right thing to do is to ensure that there are safe and secure facilities to meet the local demand.
“Therefore, we have no plans to build a learner pool in Ripon.”
Leisure facilities in Ripon are run by Brimhams Active, an arm’s length company set up by Harrogate Borough Council.
North Yorkshire Council, which now owns Brimhams Active, has pledged to undertake a £120,000 review of leisure services with the aim of creating a countywide model for delivering leisure and sport by 2027.
Mr Harne added:
“As we bring together our leisure provision under the new council, we are reviewing all our facilities across the county to ensure they continue meet the needs of their communities.”
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No.4: Ambitious schemes and delays in Harrogate’s leisure revolutionIn this article, which is part of a series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2022, we look at the district’s ongoing multi-million pound leisure projects.
Spades hit the ground this year as an overhaul of leisure services in the district continued.
Since taking over the reigns of facilities in 2021, Brimhams Active has slowly pressed on with shaping a new look leisure offering.
Harrogate Borough Council is spending more than £40 million on new pools in Ripon and Knaresborough and on a major refurbishment of The Hydro in Harrogate.
Those projects made progress this year, although the saga over Ripon’s ground instability coloured the debate over whether the site was suitable for a new pool.
The investment in leisure is the largest the district has seen.
In Harrogate, the Hydro will be expanded and in Knaresborough an entirely new facility will be built.
Speaking to the Stray Ferret in March, Mark Tweedie, director of Brimhams, said he expects the transition to the new pool to be “seamless”.
Both projects are set to cost around £28 million.
Delays and cost hikes
But, while they represent ambitious schemes, they have not been plain sailing.
The reopening of the Hydro has been delayed and is set to cost more than originally planned.
This month the borough council revealed it is set to cost £12.8 million – £1 million more than planned.
Cllr Stanley Lumley, Cllr Phil Ireland, Alliance Leisure business development manager Sean Nolan and ISG project manager Julian Donnelly outside the Knaresborough Leisure Centre construction.
Meanwhile, the facility is not expected to reopen until the summer.
The opening of a gym at Ripon has also been beset by delays as the council carries out ground stability work.
On top of that, a temporary gym which is expected to be put in place during the works will not arrive until the new year.
Despite the issues in Ripon, the decision to build on the site was defended by Cllr Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the borough council, amid concern over the future of the centre due to instability.
While the projects may be ambitious, the revolution over leisure in the district is taking time to come to fruition.
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Older half of Ripon Leisure Centre ‘would have to close for good’ without £3.5m groundworksThe older half of Ripon Leisure Centre would have to permanently close unless newly-approved groundworks costing £3.5 million are carried out, a council official has said.
Trevor Watson, director of economy, environment and housing at Harrogate Borough Council, made the statement at a cabinet meeting last night when councillors agreed to the remedial works on underground voids found at the site.
Mr Watson also stressed that the leisure centre’s new swimming pool – which opened in March – is unaffected by what is planned and will remain open throughout. He said:
“We really do need to seek to address the ground conditions.
“If we chose not to do the work, then the reality is we wouldn’t be reopening the leisure centre.”
Mr Watson added the underground voids are believed to have been present for several years and were not caused by building works for the new pool.
The discovery during the pool construction in 2020 prompted an investigation by an engineering firm which this month revealed the extent of the ground stability issues at the site.
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Stantec found “significantly weak” areas of ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre built in 1995 and also warned that not carrying out groundworks would be “unacceptable from a public safety perspective”.
The works due to start in December mean more costs and delays for the venue’s new pool and refurbishment project which is believed to have cost in excess of £18 million so far.
The original contract awarded to construction company Willmott Dixon was worth £10.2 million for the scheme originally due for completion in May 2021.
The project was approved in 2019 despite some councillors raising “deep concerns” over ground issues at the site where a sinkhole opened up the previous year.
Cllr Swift speaking at last night’s meeting.
Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, councillor Graham Swift, deputy leader of the council, said it was “good fortune” that the underground voids were discovered before a more serious collapse could have occurred.
He said:
“As a result of the fact that technologies have improved over the last 25 years, we have learnt a lot more about what is under the leisure facility.
“This is actually good fortune as it is good to know now. If we hadn’t had the swimming pool, we wouldn’t have discovered this until a genuine incident.”
Cllr Swift also said it was “very exciting” that a temporary gym is planned for the leisure centre car park during the groundworks which will close parts of the venue for at least 10 months from November.
The temporary gym will cost an additional £300,000, while the pool will remain open.
The leisure centre is reported to now have more than 14,000 members since the pool opened, generating around £34,000 a month which the council said will help offset some of the groundwork costs.
After these works are carried out, the refurbishment is scheduled for completion in spring 2024.
Report reveals extent of ground issues at Ripon Leisure CentreA report has revealed the extent of ground stability issues at Ripon Leisure Centre, which are set to cost £3.5 million to repair.
The findings from engineering firm Stantec spell out more bad news for the venue’s new swimming pool and refurbishment project, which is already over budget and more than a year overdue.
The new pool opened this year, but plans for a larger gym and exercise studios have been delayed after an underground void was discovered at the site.
This prompted an investigation by Stantec which has now revealed evidence of multiple voids and “significantly weak” areas of ground beneath the older half of the leisure centre, which was built in 1995.
It has warned that not carrying out remedial repairs would be “unacceptable from a public safety perspective”. The report said:
“These investigations have revealed that disturbed and brecciated bedrock is not isolated to the north western corner of the building.
“It is envisaged that structural strengthening would likely require remedial works on not only the ground floor of the building, but also in areas of the already renovated top floor of the building.”
The existing leisure centre adjoins the new pool
Ripon is susceptible to sinkholes because it lies on a layer of water-soluble rock called gypsum.
In 2018, a sinkhole opened up outside the leisure centre before Harrogate Borough Council approved the new pool plans a year later despite some councillors raising “deep concerns” over ground stability issues.
The council has continually insisted that professional advice has made it clear that the site is “safe to use”.
However, the repairs required are now proving costly and causing long delays for the refurbishment project.
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Stantec’s report said foundations were not driven deep enough into the ground when the leisure centre was built 27 years ago and that it remains unclear why this happened as “many critical records” are missing.
It added that if the foundations were to fail because of this, it was unlikely to be “catastrophic”.
The voids are believed to be part of a “network” of underground holes beneath the leisure centre – some of which were “successfully” repaired during the construction of the new swimming pool.
Grouting – where material is pumped into the ground – is likely to be used again during the repairs, although Stantec added more assessments and monitoring will be required on top of this.
The report said:
“A further programme of structural assessment of the existing building is recommended to understand how the building might be best retrofitted to accommodate the risks of ground collapse.
“Strengthening alone is unlikely to mitigate risks to acceptable levels and would likely need to be adopted in combination with other strategies and require long-term monitoring as the building continues in usage.”
If approved by senior councillors next week, the remedial works would start in December with refurbishment set for completion in spring 2024.
The works would mean the leisure centre would have to partially close for at least 10 months from November.
A temporary gym in the venue’s car park has been proposed and will cost an additional £300,000, while the new pool would remain open throughout.