A Harrogate Borough Council report published today has recommended conditionally approving Harrogate Spring Water’s controversial expansion plans.
The council’s planning committee will meet on Tuesday next week to discuss the company’s proposal to fell trees in the Pinewoods to expand its bottling plant.
Case officer Mark Williams’ report describes Harrogate Spring Water as a ‘global brand’ and ‘strategic employer’ that makes a significant contribution to the local economy.
The report acknowledges concerns about issues such as the loss of trees and increase in single use plastics but concludes:
“While the adverse impacts of the development are recognised, on balance it is considered that the significant weight placed on the economic benefits of the proposed development outweigh these negative impacts.”
The report recommends deferring and approving the application subject to a section 106 legal agreement being drawn up for biodiversity that confirms where the trees would be replanted.
The application, which would lead to 87 new jobs, has received 328 objections and 28 in support.
Many objections refer to an increase in single use plastics for bottling water but the report says this issue is covered by legislation and therefore “not a reason to refuse this application”.
A spokesperson from Pinewoods Conservation Group said:
“This is unfortunately typical by Harrogate council where ecological and environmental impact of a decisions are often ignored.
“The report makes it clear that a significant number of trees will be lost and the proposed development would lead to a loss of public amenity.
“The recommendation is still to approve despite the 100s of objections and clear negative impacts. We can only hope that the councillors on the planning committee can take account of the bigger picture here.”
Read more:
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Pinewoods tree protester vows to lobby council offices every week
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Impasse between Harrogate Spring Water and local groups continues
Harrogate Spring Water received outline planning permission to expand in 2016 but now wants to extend this by 40 per cent, which would mean felling trees in the area of Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.
Talks between Harrogate Spring Water’s parent company Danone and local green groups have so far failed to reach agreement on a solution that would compensate for the loss of biodiversity and community access.
The Stray Ferret has contacted Harrogate Spring Water for a response to the report but has yet to receive a reply.
Harrogate Spring Water’s sales and marketing manager Rob Pickering told the Stray Ferret last week he wanted to ensure the people of Harrogate “have the facts”.
Mr Pickering said:
“We’ll continue to provide those facts to let the people of Harrogate of a more informed view of the work we plan to do. I genuinely believe the end result of the work will be something we’ll all be proud of.”
