This week, Harrogate Spring Water announced it will appeal North Yorkshire Council’s decision to reject its factory expansion plans.

The Stray Ferret has provided the most comprehensive coverage of this major local news story this week.

We reported on the appeal announcement here, published an interview with Harrogate Spring Water Richard Hall here, gave the campaigners’ reaction here and reported a timeline of the saga here. We also looked at the company’s pipeline project here and analysed how much of the town’s water it uses here.

As the dust settles on this week’s announcement, we look at seven key questions that lie ahead — and the possible answers.

1 What happens now?

The government’s Planning Inspectorate will appoint an inspector to conduct a public hearing at which the issues are debated. It is more of a round-table discussion than a courtroom-style adversarial battle.

2 Who will win?

Legal battles are notoriously unpredictable, but Harrogate Spring Water is confident it has strong grounds for appeal. After all, the council’s own case officer recommended the scheme be approved in April, only for councillors on the Liberal Democrat-controlled Harrogate and Knaresborough area committee to go against his advice and reject it. What’s more, the company was granted outline planning permission to build on the land in 2017. The reserved matters application that has now been rejected twice covered technical aspects such as access and appearance.

3 Will the council contest the appeal?

Possibly not. The most recent comparison is the 53-home scheme put forward by developer Jomast on Knox Lane in Harrogate. When elected councillors went against the case officer’s advice on that occasion by rejecting it, the council took legal advice and did not contest the hearing. The government planning inspector ordered in favour of Jomast and told the council to pay £180,000 costs to the developer.

4 What has the council said so far?

Nothing. Harrogate Spring Water, which is part of Danone, said it sent a notification of intent to appeal on September 29 and would lodge its formal appeal “in the coming days”. The council is declining to comment until it receives it.  

5 If the council doesn’t contest it, could somebody else?

Yes. At the Knox Lane hearing, the council attended to answer questions even though it didn’t contest the appeal. The residents’ group Knox Conservation Community Group was left to take on Jomast’s lawyers. Campaigners may choose to do the same this time.

6 Would Harrogate Spring Water claim costs?

Doing so would risk further damaging its reputation with the community because local council taxpayers would effectively have to foot the bill. Mr Hall said this week the company will take the issue “one step at a time”.

7 When will it be resolved?

A timescale has yet to be set. Mr Hall said this week he expected the hearing to go ahead in the first quarter of next year. He also suggested that, if successful, the factory expansion could start in two years but acknowledged the timeline was unpredictable.

8 Will the hearing resolve matters?

Possibly not. Even if Harrogate Spring Water wins, it doesn’t own the land in the Pinewoods it wants to build on. That land has been designated an asset of community value, which means campaigners would have the right to put forward a bid to buy it.