It is now seven months since ground stabilisation work costing £3.5 million began at Ripon Leisure Centre.

The Stray Ferret has been keeping a close eye on the delay-hit project in recent years.

It's now almost 18 months since Graham Swift, deputy leader of Harrogate Borough Council, hailed the prospect of a temporary gym in the car park as "very exciting".

Harrogate Borough Council was abolished last year but the temporary gym remains. With heavy duty machinery continuing to operate on site, we requested an update from North Yorkshire Council.

It confirmed remediation work at the Camp Close site remained ongoing, while pointing out "we continue to work within the confines of the existing budget".

Rising costs

North Yorkshire Council inherited the beleaguered scheme from Harrogate Borough Council in April of last year.

At the time the overall cost for the new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre, along with remedial and refurbishment work on the adjacent 1995 leisure centre building and associated landscaping, was running at £18 million.

The original budget for the entire project awarded to contractor Willmott Dixon in November 2019, was £10.2 million and it was scheduled for delivery in 17 months.

But numerous delays and cost hikes followed as various issues, including a new sinkhole, were discovered on site.

Described as a 'void' by Harrogate Borough Council, the sinkhole was discovered in September 2020 near the old leisure centre entrance.

That followed an incident In February 2018, when a sinkhole opened up in the leisure centre car park.

In spite of the apparent red flag warning of further potential ground instability problems, a Harrogate Borough Council planning committee gave consent for the project in June 2019.

When will the leisure centre be back in use?

The spokesperson for North Yorkshire was unable to give a definitive date for reopening, but said:

In October, the Stray Ferret reported that the leisure centre work had been temporarily  paused after ground movement was detected in the 1995 building,

The North Yorkshire spokesperson said this week that since then that "no further issues have come to light".

The temporary gym and playing fields

The temporary gym installed at a cost if £300,000 in the car park in April 2023 will remain open until the refurbished 1995 building is ready to open.

In the meantime, spin classes will continue to be held at the High Ripley Hall, which is managed by Ripon City Council.

The Stray Ferret also asked about restoration of the children's playing fields and football pitch, which have been no go areas for more than four years.

We were told:

Main image: machinery which is being used for ground stabilisation works pictured this week at Ripon Leisure Centre.

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