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11
Jul
Hosepipe ban: no 'immediate impact' on council's horticultural services
A hosepipe ban which comes into force today (July 11) does not have an immediate impact on North Yorkshire Council’s horticultural services.
Yorkshire Water this week announced the country’s first hosepipe ban in 2025 after a sustained period of dry weather led the county’s reservoirs to drop more than 26% below the average for this time of year.
The firm said the county has experienced the driest and warmest spring on record with only 15mm of rainfall across the region between February and June.
The move, which bans all hosepipe use for domestic purposes, also comes after the Environment Agency officially declared a drought in Yorkshire last month.
However, businesses are allowed to use a hosepipe if it is directly related to a commercial purpose.
The Stray Ferret asked the council, which owns and operates a horticultural nursery in the Harlow Hill area of Harrogate, if the nursery is exempt from the ban and what the restrictions mean for the authority.
The council is also in charge of maintaining planters and flower beds across the county, including in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough.
The authority’s corporate director for environment, Karl Battersby, today said:
While we appreciate households in Yorkshire are facing a hosepipe ban from Friday (July 11), just like everybody else, we have to be responsible and keep our water use as low as possible. However, the ban would not have an immediate impact on our horticultural service in the Harrogate area as we’re not a domestic user.
We also have our own borehole located at the nursery which does give us some extra resilience for watering.
The Stray Ferret asked the council to clarify if the authority is exempt from the ban entirely and if hosepipes will be used to water plants at the nursery and across the district.
Mr Battersby did not clarify the council’s position, but added:
No, we won’t be using hosepipes during the ban. The flowerbeds in Harrogate and Richmond have not been watered since the end of June and we have no plans to water them over the summer as they've established good roots and an element of drought-resistance.
The hanging baskets and floral containers around Harrogate are being watered by tanks which can be filled with water extracted through a borehole in the nursery.
With regards to the horticultural nursery, 90% of the greenhouses are empty as the summer bedding has finished and the autumn bedding does not start until August. Again, we can use the borehole to water the plants if necessary.
What do the restrictions involve?
Yorkshire Water said it supplied an additional 4.3 billion litres of water between April and June due to the hot weather – enough to supply the city of Leeds for five weeks.
But it is unclear how long the ban could be in place, with the firm’s director of water, David Kaye, warning it could continue into the winter:
The restrictions will come into effect on 11 July and will be in place until the region has seen significant rainfall to bring reservoirs and groundwater stocks back to where they need to be. This may last into the winter months, but we will lift the usage restrictions as soon as we are able.
During the ban, Yorkshire Water said people cannot:
- Use a hosepipe to water a garden
- Use a hosepipe to clean private vehicles or boats
- Water plants with a hosepipe on a domestic or non-commercial premises
- Fill or maintain a domestic swimming pool, padding pool, hot tub or cold-water plunge pool with a hosepipe
- Use a hosepipe for domestic recreational use
- Fill or maintain a domestic pond or ornamental fountain using a hosepipe
- Clean walls or windows at a domestic property using a hosepipe
- Clean paths or patios with a hosepipe
- Clean other artificial outdoor spaces using a hosepipe
People are allowed to wash their cars or water their gardens by filling a bucket or watering can with tap water, rather than using a hosepipe.
People can also use water that is not sourced from taps, such as rainwater from a water butt, a private borehole or grey water, Yorkshire Water said.
Blue badge holders or people who are on Yorkshire Water’s Priority Services Register or WaterSure tariff for medical reasons are also excluded from the hosepipe ban.
Although businesses are exempt for commercial purposes, companies cannot use a hosepipe outside of those purposes, such as cleaning a path outside a company property.
North Yorkshire Police has also urged residents not to call 999 to report breaches of the ban.
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