Plans to convert spa baths set for approval

Ripon Spa Baths has been closed since 2021 and is set to be converted

Plans to convert the historic Ripon Spa Baths have been recommended for approval, ahead of a meeting next week.

The scheme from Sterne Properties would see the Grade II listed site transformed into four homes, commercial units and office space.

Opened in 1905 by Princess Henry of Battenberg, generations of Ripon families learned to swim at the baths.

They were closed in 2021, when Harrogate Borough Council decided to sell the building and move to the new Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the plans would retain the older, original part of the Spa Baths building and convert it into two commercial units.

However, the swimming pool section, which was added to the building in the 1930s following the decline of the spa era, would be demolished.

It would be replaced with a smaller, single-storey extension to form part of one of the proposed commercial units.

A glazed lobby was proposed to the rear of the existing pump room, following the demolition of the swimming pool hall.

The former boiler house and water tower building was proposed to be converted into small offices and a meeting room.

Plans include four homes, commercial units and office space

Four residential apartments would be created inside a new building and the plans also included a central courtyard.

Access for vehicles would be from Kirby Lane and seven parking spaces were proposed.

Local conservation group Ripon Civic Society said in a submission to North Yorkshire Council that it welcomed the scheme.

It said the proposals would "conserve and provide new uses for an important historic building in the city".

The society called the addition of the apartment building "unashamedly modern" but added it accepted the need for a housing element to make the scheme financially viable for the developer.

Councillors will meet at Ripon Town Hall on Monday to make a decision on the plans.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.