Ripon’s new swimming pool finally set to open this week

Harrogate Borough Council has announced the swimming pool will open to the public on Wednesday morning after originally aiming for completion of the project in May 2021.

The project is nine months overdue and £4m over budget, and refurbishment works on the adjoining Ripon Leisure Centre are still underway after the discovery of an underground void prompted the need for an investigation.

Councillor Stanley Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the council, said despite the setbacks he was “delighted” that the swimming pool is now able to open next week.

He said: “I hope residents from all over the Harrogate district as well as neighbouring areas will enjoy this fantastic facility for many years to come.

“The addition of the new pool is a major development for Ripon and the surrounding area and shows our commitment to providing modern leisure facilities for residents across the Harrogate district.”

The swimming pool project has been hit by Covid delays and several construction problems, most recently including a fault in the lining of the pool which has now been fixed.

This comes after the council awarded a £10m contract for the pool build to construction firm Wilmot Dixon in January 2020.

As of this January, a total of £13,422,309 had been spent on the project with a further £584,690 allocated.

This includes money spent on investigation works after the underground void was discovered at the site in 2020, but only became public knowledge last May when the investigation was launched.

These works are currently underway and are likely to continue into spring.

It is also likely that ground strengthening works will be needed, although the council has insisted the leisure centre is still “safe to use”.

Initial studies suggest there has 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.

The new facility has been named the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in honour of the local Olympic hero.

The new pool is being named in honour of Olympic diver Jack Laugher. He's pictured on the podium with the bronze medal for the Men's 3m Springboard at Tokyo Aquatics Centre last year

It is being built as a replacement for Ripon Spa Baths which closed in November, leaving the city without a swimming pool for the last three months.

The 116-year-old baths was put up for sale by the council last year in a move which sparked concerns that the venue could lose its community use.

But Ripon City Council successfully applied for the building to be nominated as an asset of community value which means any sale has now been put on hold for several months to allow time for community bids to come forward.