Harrogate’s most controversial planning application for years could finally be resolved on Friday (April 17).

North Yorkshire Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee will meet to decide whether to approve Harrogate Spring Water’s bid to expand its bottling plant.

The decade-long battle has generated 1,420 documents on the council’s website and well over 1,000 public comments.

If the scheme goes ahead, 500 trees in the Pinewoods at the back of Harrogate Spring Water’s headquarters on Harlow Moor Road will be destroyed so more plastic bottles can be produced.

The company, which is part of French multinational Danone, says the project would create 50 jobs and pump £17 million a year into the northern economy.

It has also pledged to plant 3,000 trees to compensate for the loss of the 500 in Rotary Wood.

But its planning application has received 1,075 objections and only 12 expressions of support, which means 98.78% oppose it.

When Harrogate Spring Water first applied to expand in December 2016, it was a family-owned company and Harrogate Borough Council.

The company is now part of French multi-national Danone and North Yorkshire Council has succeeded Harrogate Borough Council.

Outline planning permission was granted in 2017 but Harrogate Spring Water still needs reserved matters planning permission to proceed. Is this finally the denouement?

Here are seven key questions ahead of the meeting.

1 What has changed since last time?

Councillors deferred a decision in October because of concerns about the ecological safeguards and the contents of a Section 106 legal agreement that details community protections and benefits. Council planning officer John Worthington says those matters are now “acceptable or can be made acceptable”.

2 Will it finally be resolved?

Mr Worthington’s report, which you can read here, recommends the six-person committee approves the plans. It is up to the committee to accept or reject his recommendation or defer a decision to a later date. It rejected a previous application in 2021 following a campaign fronted by TV star Julia Bradbury. It then deferred a decision on the current plans in October last year.

3 What happens if councillors approve it?

Harrogate Spring Water would not be able to start work straight away. It would have to fulfil nine conditions outlined in Mr Worthington’s report, which include providing “full details of all proposed tree planting” before spades hit the ground. More significantly, Harrogate Spring Water does not own the land on which it hopes to expand in the section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood. The 96-acre Pinewoods has been listed as an asset of community value, which means campaigners would have six months to put forward a bid to buy the land and potentially scupper the scheme.

4 What if they reject it?

Harrogate Spring Water would have three choices: accept the decision and abandon its plans, submit a new planning application or appeal. If it appeals — and after 10 years of trying its patience may be wearing thin — then it raises the prospect of a potentially costly legal battle with the council. The issue would go to the government’s Planning Inspectorate and with Mr Worthington recommending approval, the council may choose not to contest an appeal, leaving the project to proceed and a legal cost to council taxpayers.

5 Who decides?

The six-person planning committee consists of four Liberal Democrats, who are Cllrs Cllrs Aldred, Philip Broadbank, Hannah Gostlow and Peter Lacey, plus Conservative Robert Windass and Independent Paul Haslam.

6 Will the Lib Dems agree with their MP?

Harrogate and Knaresborough’s Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon has spoken out against the plans and accused Harrogate Spring Water of being more interested in making money than caring about the town. The committee members, however, are bound by planning rules regardless of party affiliation.

7 How can I watch it?

The meeting takes place at 2pm at the Civic Centre on St Luke’s Avenue and will be broadcast on the council's YouTube channel. Members of the public can watch in an adjoining room. The Stray Ferret will also provide live coverage. Demonstrations are expected to take place before the meeting, although campaigners are angry that they only received eight days’ notice of the meeting.