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17
Mar 2023
Harrogate Spring Water ‘reviewing plans’ to expand bottling plant ahead of new application
Harrogate Spring Water has said it is reviewing plans to expand its bottling plant on Harlow Moor Road ahead of a new planning application being submitted.
Since 2017, the Danone-owned firm has had outline planning permission to expand its factory next to the Pinewoods.
But controversially, this would involve chopping down trees at Rotary Wood, a public woodland that includes trees planted by schoolchildren in the 2000s.
In January 2021, a high-profile reserved matters application that was 40% larger than the outline permission and looked to fell more trees than had been agreed was turned down by Harrogate Borough Council‘s planning committee.
The application generated a public backlash and led to a national debate about how a successful businesses can expand in the area of climate change and plastic pollution.
Following the refusal, Harrogate Spring Water confirmed it was putting together another keenly-anticipated reserved matters application that will show what the new building will look like. Crucially, it will also say where the new trees will be replanted.
The company held a public consultation event at the Crown Hotel in Harrogate last July where representatives, including managing director Richard Hall, spoke to residents about the plans.
Eight months later, the company has still not submitted the reserved matters application but a Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said it remains committed to doing so.
The application will be decided by the new Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee on North Yorkshire Council.
A spokesperson for Harrogate Spring Water said:
Read more:
- Harrogate Spring Water investigating new water sources on council land
- Campaigner accuses Harrogate Spring Water of ‘greenwashing’ over expansion plans
At a meeting of the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee this week, campaigner Sarah Gibbs quoted the council’s own planning policies when she addressed councillors about why she believes the expansion should not go ahead.
As several members of the committee will sit on the new council’s planning committee, including chair Pat Marsh, they did not take part in any debate or ask questions.
Ms Gibbs has organised protests against the plans for several years and previously held a weekly vigil outside the council offices dressed as a tree.
She said:
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