Harrogate Spring Water to appeal 50-job plant expansion refusal

A bottled water firm is set to appeal a 50-job factory extension snub.

Harrogate Spring Water is launching a challenge against North Yorkshire Council’s rejection of a blueprint to expand its base.

However, Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon has called for the original ruling to stand, urging the water firm’s owner Danone to “respect the democratic decision”.

And campaigners have accused the company of a lack of engagement over its plans, which they say are “wrong” and would “sacrifice much-loved space for recreation and wellbeing”. 

The proposals were refused earlier this year – amid landscaping concerns and the building’s environmental suitability – following opposition from objectors including Dame Judi Dench, despite council officers’ recommendations to rubberstamp the venture.

But Harrogate Spring Water is now primed to lodge an appeal in the coming days, with a decision expected next year.

Managing director Richard Hall told Bdaily that reversing the original reserved matters planning verdict would help add £2.3 million worth of economic value to the community around the company’s North Yorkshire home.

He added a larger plant would also provide foundations “over time” for the business to add two further production lines to its existing two-line bottling hub, based on Harrogate’s Harlow Moor Road, to meet customers’ increasing demand for “more healthy” options.

He said: “We have put forward a really robust and sustainable proposal for economic growth.

“The political discourse at the moment is growth in every postcode – and this is a business that wants to invest.

“It is an opportunity for economic growth for a community – and there aren’t too many of them at the moment.

“Our proposal brings economic growth and jobs, which include engineering roles for young students and digital roles too.

“Bottled water is growing; people want to be more healthy, so they’re switching from sugary drinks and moving to options that include water.

“We’re providing that, which we think is something Harrogate town can be proud of.”

The original council decision pointed to inadequate landscaping to address a proposed loss of existing trees and the lack of “local distinctiveness” to the expanded factory.

However, Richard said the still and sparkling water producer was committed to meeting environmental targets, saying its blueprint includes a publicly-accessible, two-acre woodland, close to the existing Rotary Wood, which would cover the equivalent footprint to the area impacted by the building’s extension, and a programme to plant six times as many trees that would be lost during any construction work.

And he said the business – which received outline planning permission for the development a decade ago – was committed to continuing to work with its local community, having reworked its blueprint over previous years.

He said: “We considered we’d met all the criteria in the original process.

“We worked extensively with the council and its ecologist before we put in the first application, and worked with the council on the appearance of the factory, which was also deemed acceptable.

“We’ve listened to voices.

“We previously held town halls, for example, where we had pushback on woodland plans, and we took a step back and said we’d look for woodland of a similar existing size, which we have done.

“There is a large group of people in the community that support this proposal; we have a big silent majority.

“We’ve run surveys with an established company three times, and have seen 80 per cent of the community support the plans.

“This was a reserved matters planning application, and that should have been the focus.

“However, there were some very noisy objectors protesting against the application – which is absolutely their right to do – but that noise led to a lot of discussion on topics that were not part of the reserved matters application.

“That is part of local democracy, and we accept that, but we also feel there are grounds for appeal.

“We are hopeful, though we can’t pre-empt the outcome, and we think we have a strong case.”

However, Mr Gordon, who runs a constituency office from Harrogate’s Spa Lane Studio, in the town’s Starbeck area, urged council officials to stick with their “right call”.

He said: “I warned when the planning committee refused this application that we had to remain vigilant, and sadly today proves why.

“Local councillors looked at the evidence and heard from more than 1000 residents who objected.

“Danone may not like that decision, but it was a democratic one, and it should be respected.

“A new two-acre plantation is not a like-for-like swap for a decades-old woodland that local people planted and love.”

And Pinewoods Conservation Group has also vowed to maintain its fight to oppose the water company’s plans, saying it is “deeply disappointed” with the firm’s response.

Chair Neil Hind said: “Rotary Wood is an established, publicly accessible community woodland, planted by local people and schoolchildren. 

“It provides valuable wildlife habitat and a much-loved space for recreation and wellbeing.

“Replacement planting cannot provide an immediate substitute for established woodland, its biodiversity or the value people place on it. 

“The claimed economic benefits should not be treated as outweighing these lasting environmental and community costs.

“We urge Harrogate Spring Water and Danone to reconsider this approach and explore alternatives that protect the woodland and compensate appropriately.”

He added: “We are also concerned the company chose to brief the local press without communicating directly with the community groups, residents and councillors most affected.

“Meaningful engagement requires an open, two-way conversation with the people who use and care for this woodland – a press briefing is no substitute.”

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