Ripon sinkhole latest: three homes evacuatedHomes evacuated due to sinkhole in RiponRe-opening date for Ripon leisure centre revealedMore public money to be pumped into Ripon leisure centreRipon leisure centre gym to open tomorrowFirefighters check sinkhole in Ripon field‘Multiple cracks’ detected at Ripon leisure centre

An 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 detected

A £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.

Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre.

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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Harrogate council approves £650,000 refurbishment of ‘eyesore’ Ripon flats

Harrogate Borough Council will spend £650,000 on long-awaited plans to bring 11 one-bedroom flats in Ripon back into use.

Plans to refurbish the council homes at Allhallowgate date back seven years but have been delayed due to sinkhole concerns in the area.

In 2015, planning permission was granted to demolish a block of flats at 4-14a Allhallowgate and replace them with nine townhouses. The plan also included a major refurbishment of an existing block of flats.

The flats were demolished but the rest of the scheme was halted in 2019 after an engineering firm found ground instability “could be foreseen” on or near the site. They warned that measures to reduce the risk of the townhouses collapsing were not cost-effective.

Ripon sits above a layer of gypsum, which is a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

The council pledged to continue with the refurbishment of the existing flats that weren’t demolished. However, its plans were paused again during covid as they were used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

In May, the council was quoted £1.1m for the project by a contractor — almost double its budget of £650,000. It has since removed plans to build an extension to the building to reduce costs.

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The council’s cabinet met on Wednesday night to approve spending money on the refurbishment.

Conservative cabinet member for housing and safer communities, Mike Chambers, who is also councillor for Ripon Spa, said he was happy the project was finally moving forward.
He said:

“This is a project that for a number of years has hit the buffers for various reasons. It is now appropriate we start moving it forward again. It is somewhat of an eyesore so I’m delighted we’re moving forward.

“It will improve the streetscene and a number of residents are concerned about the state of the block following the demolition. It’s high time we moved on.”
Subject to planning permission, HBC hopes to complete the refurbishment by May 2023.

Older half of Ripon Leisure Centre ‘would have to close for good’ without £3.5m groundworks

The 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.

Mike Chambers and Graham Swift, Cabinet meeting

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.