What's happening next in the campaign for a learner pool in Ripon

Ever since it was announced that plans for Ripon's new swimming pool will be changed to a six-lane facility, 'Gazette readers have been wondering what exactly this decision means for the future of the campaign to add a separate learner pool.
Members of Ripon Pool Action Group at the public meeting in April.Members of Ripon Pool Action Group at the public meeting in April.
Members of Ripon Pool Action Group at the public meeting in April.

Ripon Pool Action Group (RPAG) is continuing to lobby Harrogate Borough Council for a separate learner facility, and this week have announced plans to establish a cross-party group to discuss the project.

Action group member Dewi Winkle said: "We remain positive, that as long as the elected councillors are prepared to meet with us and discuss things, and listen to what we have to say and what the people of Ripon have to say, there is no reason why a learner pool can't be built, whether that's built immediately or as an add-on."

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Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Culture, Tourism and Sport, Stanley Lumley, announced that the new pool will be upgraded from a five-lane to a six-lane facility at a public meeting held at the Spa Hotel in April.

At the meeting, he said: "This will clearly be a better facility for the city moving forward - and not only the city, but the surrounding area.

“When we build this new facility, people won’t have any need or cause to go anywhere else, they will come into Ripon for that swimming provision.”