A leisure centre is set to be allocated another £2m to fund ongoing ground works.

The Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre in Ripon, North Yorkshire is set to be allocated more funding. 

North Yorkshire Council will be asked on Tuesday (May 28) to approve additional funding of £2m from the strategic capacity reserve budget for a scheme that is underway to deal with the ongoing ground stabilisation of the existing building.  

The project was started by the former Harrogate Borough Council with an initial £6.5m budget allocated to cover ground stabilisation, with North Yorkshire Council now taking over following its launch in April 2023. However, the amount of grout needed is currently higher than expected.  

Work began in November 2019 to update the leisure centre with a new six-lane swimming pool and playground opening in spring 2022. The installation of a temporary gym in the car park uncovered the need for ground stabilisation. This internal refurbishment has therefore been put on hold until this work is complete.  

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers said: “Whilst Harrogate Borough Council estimated the cost of the ground stabilisation before work started, the nature of the geology issues in Ripon meant that it was difficult to forecast it with a high degree of certainty. 

“More grout has been needed to stabilise this building and we estimate that we now need an additional £2m.  

“It is disappointing that the overall project is now estimated at £8.5m but we believe Ripon deserves good quality leisure facilities.  

“If we had decided not to proceed with the stabilisation works and looked to move the leisure centre side of the operation to another area, we would have had the pool and leisure centre in separate locations which is not only more costly for us to operate, but also not the best option for customers either.”