Harrogate Borough Council keen to get "plans back on track"

Leader Richard Cooper told us there's lots of projects which were pushed back because of coronavirus

Author: Natalie HigginsPublished 19th Mar 2021

The leader of Harrogate Borough Council has told us he's looking forward to see plans which had previously been put on hold because of coronavirus get back on track.

A number of improvements to leisure facilities and the brand new temporary accommodation had to stop, but now the finishing touches are being put in place.

Speaking of the temporary accommodation, Cllr Richard Cooper, said: "That's going to open soon. It was a challenge to keep it on track and it is back on track. We need to make sure we are protecting the most vulnerable in our society.

"That has come about through work we have been doing with Harrogate's Homeless Project so by building this new facility no one in the district has to worry about not having a roof over their head.

"A few things had gotten off track, they're now back on track. But it has been a challenging time."

Cllr Cooper also told us he's looking forward to the district's leisure facilities opening.

They’ve had over 25 million pounds of investment for Knaresborough leisure centre and the Hydro in Harrogate.

He also told us about the next steps for Ripon’s Leisure Centre.

He said: "That's a £10 million investment which suffered a little bit because of covid, partially due to staff absences too. But now it's up and running again and we're looking forward to opening the new Ripon Leisure Centre later this year."

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