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20
Nov
Harrogate Spring Water submits plans for Killinghall borehole
Harrogate Spring Water has submitted a planning application to create an access road for its new Killinghall borehole.
The scheme would involve creating a road off the B6161 Otley Road as well as an enclosed pump house and security fencing. Two trees would be felled and 12 replacements planted.
The Stray Ferret revealed in August the company, which is owned by French multinational Danone, had applied to the Environment Agency for a licence to abstract water from High Warren Farm. The location is opposite the junction of the B6161 and Lund Lane.
Now it has sent a planning application to North Yorkshire Council for permission to construct an access road and 'fenced maintenance area'.
A design and access statement in support of the proposal said the borehole would actually save water.
It says Harrogate Spring Water’s plant on Harlow Moor Road, which employs 86 people, currently uses three boreholes, one of which has naturally high levels of iron and manganese which is removed during production — a process that requires a “significant amount of water”.
The statement adds no suitable alternative borehole sites were found near the factory but the one at High Warren Farm supplies “a suitable quality of water and to the required volume”.
It says:
The new borehole water supply will allow the existing factory borehole extraction rate to be substantially reduced and repurposed for other uses
The new borehole will help the site to continue to deliver between 24,000 and 36,000 bottles of water per hour to their customers while also delivering a water efficiency benefit, which will ultimately result in less water from the site being wasted.
How the site would look.
Pipeline project
A monitoring borehole has been sunk about 80 metres to the east of the proposed site, which is on grazing land owned by Robert and Denise Earnshaw.
Harrogate Spring Water is constructing a pipeline between the new borehole and the factory, which is about three miles away.
The plans reveal the borehole area will be surrounded by a security gate access and bounded by hedging.
Harrogate Spring Water claims its landscape proposals will result in a biodiversity net gain of 14%.
The pipeline project required roadworks that caused lengthy delays at the Curious Cow roundabout this year.
A Harrogate Spring Water spokesperson said at the time:
"A private contractor is currently carrying out work to install two pipelines in the area. This installation is about continuity of supply for the site."
Harrogate Spring Water investigating new water sources on council landHarrogate Spring Water confirms pipeline project behind roadworks miseryHarrogate Spring Water’s plan for borehole in Killinghall sparks questions about ‘at source’ claimHarrogate Spring Water set to ditch strapline after watchdog calls it 'likely to mislead'
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