Harrogate Spring Water expansion decision deferred

Harrogate Spring Water say the expansion is necessary for the firm to remain competitive

Councillors have deferred a decision on the proposed expansion of a bottled water factory into an area of community woodland.

Harrogate Spring Water wants to extend its site on Harlow Moor Road, in a move it says will create 50 new jobs.

However, the plan has attracted hundreds of objections, with those opposing the development concerned about the loss of around 500 trees in Rotary Wood, despite the firm promising to plant six times more trees than would be lost.

Council officers had recommended the application for approval but councillors said they wanted more information about proposed agreements between the firm and the council and on the plans to mitigate the loss of trees.

The firm was granted outline planning permission to expand in 2017 and submitted a reserved matters application in 2020.

Since then, a number of revisions have been made to the plans, which have attracted over 1,000 comments and objections.

Members of North Yorkshire Council's Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee said they wanted to know the terms of a proposed section 106 agreement between the applicant and the council before reaching a decision.

They also wanted more information on proposed measures - referred to as condition 12 - to mitigate the loss of the trees.

Chair of the meeting Chris Aldred told members of the public who attended the meeting: "We are concerned about the 106, we're concerned about the biodiversity, we're concerned about condition 12, so it hasn't been granted and it will come back to committee."

Objectors had urged councillors to reject the application

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Richard Hall, managing director of Harrogate Spring Water, told the meeting the expanded plant would create 50 new jobs.

He said: "The central matter of concern raised during the consultations was the loss of trees in Rotary, and our proposal will create a new area of publicly accessible woodland, the same size as the area that would be lost and it will be joined up with Rotary Wood and the Pinewoods.

"We'd like to continue to contribute to the prosperity of Harrogate and to do so we must be able to grow sustainably and to compete."

Matt Walker was one of two councillors who indicated they would vote to reject the application.

He raised the issue of a solicitor's letter sent to the council by objectors which warned of legal action over claims the outline planning permission had expired and conditions had not been met.

Although council officers said they disagreed, Walker said: "From a council perspective, [approval] is going to cost the council an awful lot of money."

The meeting also heard from Neil Hind, who spoke on behalf of several community groups opposed to the application.

"The site itself forms part of the Pinewoods Green corridor, a valued space, recognised as an asset of community value," he said.

"It's a living woodland used daily for walking, education and well-being — this is not just a spare piece of land."

Green Party councillor Arnold Warneken read out a quote reported to be from Dame Judy Dench in which she said "destroying Rotary Wood for corporate expansion would be an act of environmental vandalism".

The application was recommended for approval by planning officers, but councillors voted to defer a decision by three votes to two

No date was set for the application to be brought back before the planning committee.

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