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10
Apr
‘Undemocratic’: Campaigners claim Harrogate Spring Water decision being rushed to avoid scrutiny
Campaigners have claimed the decision to give just eight days’ notice of one of the most contentious planning meetings in Harrogate’s recent history is undemocratic and avoids scrutiny.
North Yorkshire Council announced yesterday (April 9) that its Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee will meet on April 17 to determine Harrogate Spring Water’s expansion plans.
The expansion saga dates back a decade and those opposing it claim it is wrong to give so little notice of a meeting to determine an application that has attracted more than 1,000 responses, with 98.78% opposing it.
They are now frantically rallying support ahead of next week’s vote.
A spokesperson for Pinewoods Conservation Group, the charity that manages the woodland in which the trees would be felled, said:
This has all the hallmarks of a decision being pushed through quickly to avoid proper scrutiny that is disappointing after almost 10 years. That’s not how democratic planning should work — especially when the loss of valued woodland and community space is at stake.
Councillors are being asked to approve a scheme where mature woodland will be lost now in exchange for uncertain replacement that could take decades, where key environmental questions — particularly around ecology and water impacts — remain unresolved, and where the proposed mitigation only lasts for a limited period.
When so many residents have raised serious concerns, this should be subject to full and careful consideration, not rushed through in a way that limits proper public engagement.
Neil Hind, chairman of Pinewoods Conservation Group, outside the 2025 planning meeting.
'A premature and rushed decision'
Save Rotary Wood, which organised a large protest when the application last came before the planning committee in October last year, urged people to take part in another demonstration before next week’s meeting.
It posted on social media:
We realise that this is very short notice and don’t think that this is by accident! Please come along and show North Yorkshire Council that their tactics to defer attention yet again won’t work.
Councillor Mike Schofield, a Green Party councillor whose Harlow and St George’s division on the council includes the site, said:
This seems like a premature and rushed decision. They have only yesterday published new information about plans for drainage, and the lead local flood authority has not been consulted, nor had a chance to review their response.
This is not democracy - giving six working days’ notice for a meeting to consider decisions only published yesterday, when over 1,000 people have objected.
How the proposed extension would look.
Economic benefits
Harrogate Spring Water, which is part of French multinational Danone, wants to fell 500 trees at the back of its headquarters on Harlow Moor Road to expand its bottling factory.
The company 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 500 trees in the section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood.
Council planning officer John Worthington has recommended the Liberal Democrat-controlled committee approve the scheme.
The councillors now have to decide whether to accept Mr Worthington’s recommendation, reject it or defer making a decision, as they did in October.
Four of the six councillors are Lib Dems, and Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon has spoken out against the scheme.
He said yesterday:
We cannot risk losing the cherished Rotary Wood and its 500 community-planted trees to a multinational corporation. We’ve already seen serious failings in the planning process and a lack of transparency.
However, if the committee rejects the application Harrogate Spring Water could instigate costly legal action by appealing the decision with the government’s Planning Inspectorate.
The Stray Ferret has asked the council, which aims to respond to media requests in two working days, to respond to the concerns raised.
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