Ripon leisure centre sinkhole report 'sobering reading'

A new report on the discovery of an underground void beneath a leisure centre makes for "sobering reading", a meeting has heard.

Problems were found last year during work on Ripon's new swimming pool, due to open in a few weeks.

According to engineers, the ground beneath the adjoining leisure centre, which had been set to reopen this year, has seen "significant deterioration".

Ripon Borough Council officers said the leisure centre remained safe.

An almost 300-page report from engineering firm Stantec said further investigations and groundwork were required for the centre.

In its findings, discussed by the council on Wednesday, it said ground beneath the older part of the centre, built in 1995, was of most concern.

Like much of Ripon, it sits above a layer of gypsum, a water-soluble rock that leads to the formation of large underground caves that can collapse.

The void is having a "limited impact" on the building but "will continue to degrade over time" without work, the report said.

It states to do nothing was "unacceptable from a public safety perspective" and demolition was not considered to be cost-effective by the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

So ground strengthening including steelworks, thickened floors and grouting - as used to stabilise the new pool, where mortar is pumped into the ground - could be carried out.

Delays arising from the measures mean the refurbished leisure centre will not fully reopen until mid-2022.

The refurbishment plans and a new pool on the site were approved by Harrogate Borough Council in 2019, despite some concerns over ground stability and a sinkhole appearing outside the centre a year earlier.

Any ground collapse was not likely to be "catastrophic" but would be gradual and seen through cracks in the building, although long-term monitoring would be needed, it added.

Councillor Richard Cooper, the council leader, said the findings were "sobering reading" as cabinet members approved the next stage of investigations.

Councillor Stanley Lumley said potential problems with the existing building were identified "only during the construction of the new pool".

The swimming pool is due to open on 8 December.

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