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20
Oct
‘Procedurally unsound and ecologically deficient’: Conservation group calls for Harrogate Spring Water rejection
The charity that maintains the Pinewoods has called for Harrogate Spring Water’s plans to expand into the 96-acre woodland to be rejected.
A North Yorkshire Council officer today (October 20) recommended councillors on the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee approve the application when it meets on Tuesday next week.
The Liberal Democrat-controlled, seven-person committee must now decide whether to accept the officer’s recommendation, which would permit the company to expand its bottling factory on Harlow Moor Road further into the Pinewoods. Rejection could lead to a costly planning appeal.
About 500 trees would be felled in a section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood. Although the council has said Harrogate Spring Water’s mitigation measures, which include planting 3,000 trees elsewhere, are adequate the loss of so many trees has provoked a fierce public backlash.
The application has received 1,068 objections, including one from Harrogate and Knaresborough Liberal Democrat MP Tom Gordon, and just 11 expressions of support.
Pinewoods Conservation Group raised funds for a lawyer to assess the evidence before submitting its objection hours before the council officer recommended the scheme be approved.
A spokesperson said “key environmental and community conditions still haven’t been met”, seven years after outline planning permission was granted with conditions.
The spokesperson added:
Condition 12, which required a full ecological mitigation and management plan before any detailed planning stage, remains unresolved — meaning the original permission should have lapsed years ago. Despite this, the developer continues to push forward without transparency.
The proposed expansion would destroy valuable public green space that forms part of the Pinewoods and wider Harrogate green corridor – land that has long been recognised as an asset of community value. This area is not just important for wildlife; it is a much-loved space used daily by walkers, families, and visitors.
Harrogate residents deserve responsible development that enhances, not erodes, our natural environment. We are calling on North Yorkshire Council to stand by its environmental commitments, uphold the planning conditions already in place, and protect this unique part of our town for future generations.
How the expanded factory would look.
Harrogate Spring Water secured outline planning permission in 2017, meaning the principle of developing the site has been established, but it still requires approval of its reserved matters planning application, which covers issues such appearance, landscaping, layout and scale, before the scheme can proceed.
When the company submitted revised plans last year, managing director Richard Hall said the project would bring economic benefits to the town and a new community woodland created to offset the loss of trees “will become a valued resource for the local community for many years to come”.
He added:
I believe that this is a best-in-class plan to deliver business growth while minimising environmental impact.
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