In July, Harrogate Spring Water promised to publish "within weeks" details of a new planning application to expand its bottling plant in the Pinewoods. But as the end of the year approaches, it looks no nearer to being made public.

The company's pledge followed January's high-profile refusal to expand the plant, which would have meant destroying public woodland planted by local families in the area of Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.

To compensate, Harrogate Spring Water offered to replant trees, create scrubland and build a pond on private land behind Harlow Carr Gardens.

But the loss of trees at Rotary Wood provoked a major backlash and councillors on Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee voted overwhelmingly to reject it.

Harrogate Spring Water already has outline permission dating back to 2016 to expand its bottling plant, but the company said in July it was working on a completely new application and the old application would be disregarded.

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The company pledged to consult with the community before pursuing a formal planning application to the council.

However, the Stray Ferret has been told that no meaningful talks with community groups have taken place since January's refusal.

Groups that are still in the dark about what the new application will look like include the Rotary Club, which planted the trees in Rotary Wood, and Pinewoods Conservation Group, a charity that works to preserve the Pinewoods.

A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water said: