North Yorkshire Council confirm £300,000 temporary gym in Ripon set to stay until March next year

Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre opened on Dallamires Lane in 2022 but it has been plagued by controversy due to spiralling costs and the potential for sinkholes on the land where it was built.

The existing leisure centre next to the new facility has now been closed while works costing the council £3.5m take place to try and rectify the ground stablity issues.

A void, understood to have been present for many years, was discovered underneath part of the original leisure centre following foundation works for the new facility.

Initial studies suggested there had been a “significant deterioration” of the ground beneath the older half of the centre which was built in 1995 and like much of Ripon sits on gypsum deposits.

Brimhams Active, which runs leisure services in the former Harrogate district for North Yorkshire Council, installed a temporary gym last month costing £300,000 while residents wait for the closed gym to reopen.

The swimming pool remains open as usual.

In a statement to councillors ahead of a full meeting in Northallerton on Wednesday, Conservative Councillor Simon Myers, executive councillor for culture, arts and housing, confirmed that the temporary gym is expected to be in place until March 2024.

Councillor Myers said: “The temporary gym will include the high-quality, state-of-the-art Technogym equipment currently available in the existing leisure and wellness centre.

“As well as expert advice and guidance from the Brimhams Active team, customers will still be able to use the changing and shower facilities in the new pool area, as well as the sauna and steam suite as they will remain open as normal.”

Harrogate Borough Council made the decision to build the new pool next to the existing leisure centre in 2019 despite concerns from councillors and residents about sinkholes in the area.

The council awarded a £10m contract for the pool build to construction firm Wilmot Dixon in January 2020 but the ground stabilisation works and the temporary pool have seen costs for the leisure centre project almost double to £18m.