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21

Aug 2020

Last Updated: 20/08/2020
Harrogate
Harrogate

Green Party to protest against water firm's Pinewoods expansion

by Thomas Barrett

| 21 Aug, 2020
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Members of Harrogate Green Party will walk up Otley Road at 6pm this evening handing out leaflets about Harrogate Spring Water's expansion plans.

close-wood-shot-rotary-area
Rotary Wood was planted by volunteers, including schoolchildren

Members of Harrogate Green Party will walk up Otley Road at 6pm this evening handing out leaflets about Harrogate Spring Water's expansion plans into the Pinewoods.

The water company, which was bought out last year by multinational firm Danone, has applied to Harrogate Borough Council to extend its bottling plant into Rotary Wood, removing 4 acres of public woodland.

The company already has outline planning permission from HBC to extend its bottling plant into the Pinewoods — but in 2019 they submitted fresh plans that are 40% larger than the original proposal.

The Green Party claims the company has broken a promise to consult with them on landscaping for the updated proposal, which they say does not mitigate for the loss of woodland, which was a condition of the outline planning permission.

As part of the plans, Harrogate Spring Water wants to plant some new trees to the left of the bottling plant.



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Harrogate Green Party campaigner Rebecca Maunder said Harrogate Spring Water is "trying to fob the community off" with the new trees as a replacement for the "rich and diverse" woodland that will be lost.

Nicky Cain, brand manager at Harrogate Spring Water, told the Stray Ferret that the company still plans to consult with local groups but the process has been delayed due to coronavirus.


She said:

"We haven’t yet submitted the revised landscaping details and therefore haven’t yet reached the next phase of consultation. To reassure, there has been no short-cutting of the process or withdrawal of our offer of involvement; in fact quite the opposite – it has simply been a consequence of delays in the planning process due to the impact of COVID since our last meeting.
"The initial landscaping proposals were always subject to change following further ecological work and consultation. The results of the ecological study are still being worked upon, which shall in turn determine our obligations to be addressed as part of the landscaping detail. We hope this shall be ready by the end of September.
"At this stage – and as promised at our meetings with the Green Party, we shall continue to look forward to inviting the Green Party to consult and advise on the landscaping, to help ensure we best meet our responsibilities."