Future of Richmond Swimming Pool thrown into doubt by discovery of extensive work needed

The future of Richmond Swimming Pool has been thrown into doubt after council officials revealed that major work was needed on the building.

It has now emerged that extensive repairs are needed on the building, with council officials looking at “all possible future options” for the site.
The pool is set to remain closed for at least three months while further surveys are carried out.  The pool has been closed since April after part of the ceiling fell down.

North Yorkshire Council said in a statement issued today: “Our investigations into the ceiling issues have uncovered several historic issues and show that the work needed is extensive.  In addition to the essential repairs required, we also know that other areas are in urgent need of improvement and key equipment requires replacement.

“We now want to take more time to assess and compare all possible future options available to us, including the costs and impact of these options.
We anticipate this assessment will take three months alongside further surveys and will be consulting with users of Active North Yorkshire Richmond as part of this process.”

The council said it appreciated the closure was disappointing and it apologised for the disruption caused.

The statement added: “We thank you for your ongoing patience and would like to remind customers that you can use pool facilities at our neighbouring Active North Yorkshire sites.”  The café and adjacent gym remain open as normal.

The problems with the ceiling arose just weeks after the pool transferred from the management of Richmondshire Leisure Trust to the council.

The site was previously owned by Richmondshire District Council until it was dissolved in 2023.

The district authority came under fire in 2022 for giving the trust almost five per cent of its income to run the services — and then having to provide an extra £75,000 in funding to cover a 400 per cent increase in energy bills.

The council also agreed to pay compensation to the trust of up to £85,000 due to lost income from issues with a £1.9m revamp, which included a new heating system and solar panels on the roof.

The upgrade work took longer than expected and meant the pool had to close for several months in 2023 due to issues with the heating system.