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18
Jan
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".
Ripon Leisure Centre as it adjoins the new swimming pool.
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.
The swimming pool housed in the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre opened in March 2022.
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".
Main image: machinery which is being used for ground stabilisation works pictured this week at Ripon Leisure Centre.
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