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13
Aug 2024
Yorkshire business group backs Harrogate Spring Water expansion plans
West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce has today backed Harrogate Spring Water’s controversial expansion plans.
Harrogate Spring Water, which is a member of the chamber of commerce, plans to fell some 450 trees at the Harlow Moor Road headquarters to expand its existing bottling plant.
Managing director of the company, which is owned by French multi-national Danone, Richard Hall, recently told the Stray Ferret the amended plans could come before North Yorkshire Council’s planning committee as soon as September.
The proposals include two tree-planting exercises to mitigate the loss of the existing trees.
But the company's plan has been one of the most contentious in recent years, and came under fire by a campaign led by TV star Julia Bradbury, which saw the plans rejected by the former Harrogate Borough Council in 2021.
However, the chamber said today the expansion would bring “significant benefits to Harrogate’s economy, ecology and society”.
It added the planned new woodland, which would be created in partnership with experts and the local community, would create a space that provides “maximum benefit for the public”.
‘Harrogate Spring Water is a success story’
Sarah Czarnecki, president of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, described Harrogate Spring Water as a “Yorkshire success story”.
She said:
This expansion plan from Harrogate Spring Water is hugely exciting for North Yorkshire.
As well as creating much-needed jobs and generating millions of pounds for the region, the new woodland will offer a fantastic asset for the community to enjoy.
Harrogate Spring Water is a Yorkshire success story and a product that graces some of our most beloved institutions such as Ascot Racecourse and onboard the world’s most reputable airlines.
I trust that planning officers will recognise the substantial contribution it plays to the region and back its expansion plans in full.
Revised plans
Mr Hall said the firm has “listened” to public feedback and the new plans now include a publicly accessible woodland that would be planted with 1,460 trees.
1,500 specimens will also be planted with an unnamed charity on another site, meaning the loss of trees would be replaced on a ratio of about 6:1.
The development is also said to bring around £2.3 million into the local economy every year, as well as generate 50 full-time jobs and an additional 20 during the construction period.
Mr Hall told the Stray Ferret the company has spent years engaging with the likes of Pinewoods Conservation Group and the Rotary Club of Harrogate, which planted the under-threat trees in a section of the Pinewoods known as Rotary Wood in the 1990s, as well as Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, councillors and other stakeholders to finalise the plans.
The company has also worked with the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce on this, Mr Hall said.
In an interview with the Stray Ferret, Mr Hall said the majority of the 1,460 trees set to be planted would be between two and four metres in height. This is contrary to claims they would be saplings, he added.
The trees would be planted on land acquired from a local landowner, but that agreement will only go ahead should the planning application be approved.
This raised concerns that Danone could use its newly acquired land to expand again.
The Stray Ferret put these concerns to Mr Hall during the interview. You can read what he said about that and other matters here.
The expansion plans
Other local support
A mammoth 614 public comments have been left on Harrogate Spring Water’s plans – 600 of which are objections.
However, one supporter of the plans appears to be Harrogate Tipple founder, Steven Green.
In a comment on the application, which champions the expansion, Mr Green said:
As the founder of Harrogate Tipple, we use Harrogate Spring Water as an ingredient in our products.
It's important to us to use quality spring water which is locally sourced. Harrogate Spring Water is a valuable brand and ambassador for our town, and it is important to support local businesses where possible who wish to expand.
It sends the correct message to other local companies who can be confident that they will be backed when they want to invest in the town, create new jobs, and secure future growth plans.
I offer my support for the proposals and hope the local authority can approve Harrogate Spring Water’s planning application.
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