Harrogate Spring Water plant expansion into wood rejected

More than 400 objections were received to the planned expansion

A TV presenter has welcomed the decision to block the expansion of a bottled water plant over a community-planted wood.

Harrogate Spring Water wanted to extend its factory in the town across Rotary Wood, a site planted by children 15 years ago.

More than 400 objections were received.

Ex-Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury congratulated campaigners, saying "the trees won" after councillors voted to reject the proposal.

The firm, majority-owned by the French company Danone, had outline planning permission to expand but was denied by planning committee councillors on Friday.

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Julia Bradbury, seen here addressing an environmental protest in 2018, had supported the campaign against the plant expansion

Council planners had recommended approval as economic benefits outweighed the loss of an "asset of community value" and new woodland would have been planted.

The firm made "a significant contribution to the local economy" and expansion could have led to 87 new jobs, they added.

Bradbury, a countryside broadcaster and campaigner, said: "Well done guys. I know you've been highlighting this for a long time and I was a bit of a late arrival, but the trees won."

Councillor Pat Marsh, who opposed the proposals, said the authority was putting "profit and plastic before impact on the environment. Not on my watch".

Neil Hind, of the Pinewoods Conservation Group, told councillors the "world has changed" since outline planning was approved.

Rob Pickering, representing Harrogate Spring Water, said: "We do everything we can to be part of the community.

"We have always had an approach to our community and the environment we consider is hugely important to us."